At The Crack of Dawn
by starlabsforever
Summary: Upon discovering that she is the Key, Dawn runs away to L.A. and bumps into the AI team. Angel discovers that Wolfram & Hart are in search of the Key and ends up getting hopelessly tangled into something far above any of their comprehension. Finding their worlds once again entwined, Buffy and Angel have to work together to protect Dawn and- shocker -save the world.
1. Chapter One

Dawn ran as fast as she could down the street, tears running down her face. She stopped and leaned over to grab her side, and let a gasping sob come out between her ragged breathing.

_But you're not breathing, not really. Only people can breathe, and you're not a person. You're a Key. You're a thing. You're not even real._

She had entered downtown Sunnydale, which was good. She was getting farther away from Buffy and her mom and Willow and Xander and Tara and Giles and Spike and all the stupid people who had been trying to protect her. Why, though? Why should they care about her when she wasn't even real? How long ago did the freaking monks create her, anyway? A year? Six months, or two? A week ago? For all she knew, they created her yesterday. And if she got destroyed, they wouldn't even remember her. Maybe they would let her die.

She stopped in front of a shop window and saw her reflection staring back at her- messy hair, lanky legs, puffy eyes and tearstained cheeks. _You'd think those all-powerful monks could've made me prettier, _she thought in disgust, and couldn't stand it any longer. She let out a furious screech and swung her leg into the window, imitating one of Buffy's karate kicks, and watched her hideous, fake reflection shatter to the ground. An alarm blared, startling her, and she took off running.

Past the GAP, past the pet store, past the Doublemeat Palace and the cinema and the drugstore and the Magic Box. Every store she passed had a memory tied to it, and that made her hate this whole town even more. It was full of fake memories.

And then there it was. Sunnydale Travel Agency. She ran faster, her feet pounding on the pavement. Buffy had done this once, too. Wigged when her life got screwed up and ran away. So why couldn't Dawn?

Oh, she'd show them now. They all thought she was little Dawn, stupid Dawn, naïve Dawn, helpless Dawn, and now she was not-even-real Dawn. She'd show them who was little and helpless and stupid. She'd show them that she could take care of herself.

She ran into the travel agency and up to the desk. "When's the next bus outta here?" She said in her most commanding voice, and winced upon hearing how shaky it was.

"Uh- where?" The guy behind the desk blinked at her.

Dawn rolled her eyes, trying to act like Buffy would. "Anywhere. Somewhere far away."

"Uh," the guy said again. "We have a bus leaving for L.A. in five minutes, but-"

"I'll take it," Dawn interrupted, and shoved a fistful of dollar bills at him.

"But aren't you a little young to be leaving town on your-"

"I'm, uh, meeting someone," she lied.

"But I thought you said you didn't know where you were-"

"Take my money!" Dawn snarled, and the guy jumped. He swept the money into his hand and handed her a ticket. "The bus is-"

"Yeah, yeah." Dawn ran through the front door, and took a breath. She was actually doing this.

She had no idea what she'd do when she got to L.A. She didn't have enough money to stay in a hotel more than a couple nights, and she couldn't work. She hadn't actually thought that far ahead. _Maybe I'll go to a homeless shelter, or just live under a bridge. I wonder if people can actually hurt me? After all, I'm just an enormous blob of green energy. Maybe I'm invincible. _

_I wonder if they're looking for me. If they've even noticed that I'm gone._

Another unwelcome thought entered her brain.

_Maybe they don't actually want me. Maybe they're glad to be rid of me._

_Maybe they won't coming looking for me._

* * *

Cordelia let out a screech as she vaulted backwards. Angel jumped forward to catch her and pulled her up towards him.

"Cordelia?" He demanded. "What do you see?"

"Oh, for the love of god, this isn't T.V!" she yelled, grabbing her forehead. "Get me a damn Tylenol, Wes!"

Wesley bustled away to do her bidding. Angel watched her pensively.

"It's- it's a little girl." Cordelia tore her fingers through her hair and let out a moan. "Well, not that little. Maybe thirteen."

"And?" Angel demanded.

Cordelia grimaced. "Vampire." Wes returned with a glass of water and a painkiller in his hand.

"What kind of vampire? Be more specific."

"The kind with pale skin and no heartbeat. The fangy kind." Cordelia shot him a dirty look as she snatched the glass of water from Wesley. "God, Angel, this isn't exactly HD streaming."

"Fine." Angel grabbed his coat. "Where is she?"

"In the alleyway off of Fifth and Main."

"Is she alone?"

"You mean aside from the fangy guy?"

Angel grabbed his coat and strode to the door. "I'll check it out."

"Are you sure you don't need back-up?" Wesley called. "It could be more dangerous than it-"

"It'll probably be fine," Angel said, and reached for the doorknob.

"And if you need help, you can just call us. On your _cellphone,_" Cordelia added when Angel gave her a blank look.

"Oh. Right." Angel still looked blank. "Right. Cellphone. I- have a cellphone. Right."

He let the door swing behind him. "God, does he even know how to use that thing?" Cordelia exclaimed. "I swear, he's still living in the 1800s."

* * *

Dawn sniffed loudly, and then shivered as a wind blew straight through her. She hugged herself and kicked a stray soda can.

She hadn't really thought about what would happen when she actually got to L.A. There had to be a motel somewhere, right?

She let out a sigh and began to slowly walk down the sidewalk. She wondered again if anyone was looking for her yet. _Maybe they're celebrating, _she thought bitterly. _Yay, we got rid of the stupid little kid who's actually just a big ball of light. Now we can fight vampires and demons and ooglie-booglies without her getting in the way, and while we're at it, we can have loud, obnoxious sex with our significant others whenever we want! No more pesky fourteen-year-old around the house._

_Only Buffy doesn't have anyone to have loud, obnoxious sex with, _she remembered, and stopped dead as she thought of something. _Did Riley know about me? Was that why he left, because he was scared of me? Did I drive away the one boyfriend that _didn't _make my sister cry all the time? _

_Or maybe the military's planning to capture me, and Riley's helping them, _she thought as she started to walk again, turning into an alleyway. _Maybe they're gonna lock me up and give me a number like Spike and observe me. Maybe I'll be Hostile 18._

_Am I hostile? Am I evil? _This hadn't even occurred to her yet. _If so many people are trying to destroy me, I must be evil._

_Maybe I am. Maybe they do want to destroy me. Maybe that's why they didn't tell me. _

_Or maybe they'll just give me to Glory. Maybe sticking me in whatever lock I belong to is a good thing. Maybe I open some mystical gateway to Heaven._

Well, Dawn wasn't going to have any of that. She wasn't going to let Buffy or Giles or Glory or anyone destroy her or stick her in a lock or try to protect her from anyone else. Dawn was her own person, and the fact that she wasn't actually a person didn't change that. She was gonna hide from them, run from them, and she was never gonna stop runnin-

She tripped over something and landed flat on her face. She groaned and started to stand up when something grabbed her by the collar and pinned her against the wall. _Damn, does L.A. have vamps too? _She thought, and then screamed.

* * *

The scream pierced the night, and Angel took off in the direction it came from. He pounded down the sidewalk and through the alleyway and saw a vampire pinning a young girl against the brick wall, just as Cordelia had predicted.

He picked up a soda can and chucked it at the vamp's head. "Hey, lunkhead!" He shouted as the vampire turned to look at him. "Pick on someone your own size!"

The vampire lunged at him, and the girl crumpled to the ground. He expected her to get up and run, but instead she just crouched in the shadows, staring at him. Well, he couldn't see her face, but he was pretty sure she was staring at him.

"Go!" Angel yelled at her, blocking a blow from the vamp. "Run!" Still, the girl didn't move.

The vamp knocked Angel to the ground, pinning him on top of one of his own arms, and his stake clattered to the ground. The vampire grinned nastily and picked it up, and started to bring his hand down. Angel grunted and grabbed the guy's arm with his free hand and was thinking fast about his next move when the vamp exploded into dust.

Angel was stunned for a second, and then his eyes refocused and he saw the girl standing where the vamp had been, holding a piece of scrap wood with trembling hands. He still couldn't see her face in the dark.

"Nice," Angel said amiably, trying not to come off as intimidating. "Where'd you learn that?"

She said nothing, trembling and staring at him.

"You'd better get out of here," he said, looking around. "Do you need a ride home? What were you doing out here, anyway?"

"Angel?" The girl blurted suddenly, and he stopped.

"Yeah, that's me. Angel Investigations. Were you looking for us? Do you need-?"

"Angel, shut up." The girl moved into the glow of a nearby streetlamp, and Angel felt like he'd been punched in the stomach as he recognized her. "Oh, my god. I- I forgot you lived here, I guess."

"Oh, my god." Angel heard his own voice, suddenly hoarse. "Oh my _god. _Dawn?"


	2. Chapter Two

They were both silent on the car ride back, too stunned to say anything. Several fleeting thoughts passed through Angel's mind- he knew he should ask her why she was here, if anyone even knew that she was –but he felt too sick to say anything. He had been doing so well with the not thinking about Buffy, not dwelling on something that he could never have. He had almost forgotten about her entirely. And now here was the bluntest and most painful reminder he could get- her little sister.

Sure, she wasn't exactly a carbon copy of the elder Summers- she was thinner and lankier, and her was hair darker, straighter and longer than Buffy's ever had been. But they had the same nose, and the same eyes. The same grey-green eyes that could pierce right through your soul and lower your defenses in a moment.

He pulled into his parking spot on the street, dazed, and got out of the car. He made his way over to Dawn's side to open the door for her, but she just jumped over the side of his convertible instead.

"So, this is the place, huh?" she said casually, making for the stairs of the abandoned hotel with her hands in her pockets. "Not really what I imagined, but it's cool."

"What- what did you imagine?" Angel said stupidly, trying to make conversation even though it was all he could do to not run as far away from her as he could, far away from this little girl who was entirely harmless aside from the incredible and painful rush of memories that her very presence brought.

"I dunno. Just seems pretty normal for a guy like you." They walked up the stairs together. "Would've expected something a little more, I dunno, evil overlord-ish." Angel glanced at her quickly and she backtracked. "I didn't mean it like that, sorry. I meant, y'know, something a little blacker and angrier. Something more fit for brooding."

Angel laughed a little. "Well, so far I haven't had any problems brooding in here."

"So what is this place anyway? Like an old casino?" Dawn looked up and around at the building.

"Hotel, actually." Angel looked around at the architecture.

They stood there awkwardly for another beat, until Dawn said, "Are you going to invite me in? I mean, not that I turned into a vampire or anything, but I assume you didn't take me here to admire the exterior design."

"Right, sorry." Angel opened the door, flustered. Dawn stepped in, looking around.

"So you're like a P.I. or something?" she asked. Before Angel could answer, Cordelia rushed in from the office, followed by a resigned-looking Wes.

"Angel, what took you so long? We got-"she stopped dead and then broke into a smile. "Oh my god, Dawnie!" She rushed forward and met the younger girl with a crushing hug. "Oh my god, that was _you _I saw in my vision? Oh my god, what are the chances? It's almost like it's magic or something." Angel stared at her. "Well, I mean, it kind of is magic. But you know what I meant."

"What do you mean, vision?" Dawn interjected before Cordelia could say anything else.

"She- Cordelia- it's a long story." Angel slumped into a chair and ran a hand through his hair.

"We had a friend who was part demon and could see things. He died saving our asses but he kissed me first, and now I get terrible migraines whenever someone in this city gets attacked." Cordelia said this in one breath. Dawn raised an eyebrow.

"Apparently not that long." Angel could see Wesley trying to catch his eye, but thoroughly not in the mood, he stared at the ground instead.

"Uh, Dawn." Wesley stepped forward. "What are you doing here?"

"I- um." Dawn shuffled her feet. "It's a long story."

"Well, I told mine," Cordelia said amiably.

Dawn squirmed uncomfortably. "Could I talk to you alone, Angel?"

Wesley looked directly at Angel. Angel sighed and felt like his insides were collapsing.

"Uh, of course." Angel stood up and gestured awkwardly. "My, uh, office is this way."

He shuffled into the office; Dawn followed suit. He sat down behind his desk and propped up his feet on the table. Dawn stood on the other side of the desk, shifting her weight awkwardly.

"Sit down," he said bluntly, and she obeyed. They stared at each other for a long while and then both tried to speak at the same time.

"Sorry, you go first," she said, flushing.

"No, you." He raised an eyebrow expectantly.

"Fine." She leaned forward, dropping all pretenses. "What's wrong with you?" she demanded.

"What?" He wasn't sure how to react to this.

"Come on, Angel. You're acting like someone's died and you won't look me straight in the face. What the hell's wrong with you?"

"Language," he said teasingly, looking her in the eye for the first time that night, but she wouldn't let him distract her.

"Don't change the subject," she said stubbornly.

He drew a breath in sharply and then sighed and looked at his hands. They were both silent for a moment's pause, and then Dawn said in an uncharacteristically gentle voice, "I'm not Buffy."

"What?" He felt his face heat up.

"That's it, isn't it? You're wigging because I remind you of Buffy. Well, guess what? I'm not her. She's older and prettier and stronger and smarter, and I'm not her." Dawn bit her lip and looked down. "I'm not even her sister."

Angel looked up sharply, but now it was Dawn who didn't want to make eye contact. "Dawn, what are you talking about?"

"It's- it's complicated." Dawn shifted in her chair. "I-"she took a deep breath and then rushed in. "Have you ever heard of something called a Key?"

"I've heard of it." Angel leaned forward, rapt.

"Well, I, uh-"Dawn bit her lip. "So yeah. Key thingy. Mystical ball of green energy. Apparently that's me. I'm it." Angel stared and she rushed on. "Some ancient Monk deal, they turned me- it –into a human so the Slayer would protect it. So-" her voice broke and she started to cry. "-so I'm not even real. I'm not Buffy's sister. Buffy doesn't have a sister. I'm just a thing. I'm an it."

The presence of tears triggered something in him, and he stood up from the desk abruptly. Without saying anything, he picked her up by the shoulders and pulled her to him. She was stunned for a moment and then began to sob into his shirt.

"Apparently they only made me like six months ago or something," she said between sobs. "I've only been alive for six months. I'm like a baby. I'm _nothing."_

"That- that can't be right." Angel was thinking fast for a way around this, a way to reassure her that this was a mistake. "If they made you six months ago, I wouldn't even know who you were. Cordelia and Wesley wouldn't, either." He took her face in his hands and looked her in the eye. "I've known you since you were little, Dawn. You're real. You're not a Key."

"That's part of the deal," she sniffed. "Package deal. Fake memories came with the body. Fourteen years of 'em. And you guys got 'em, too. I got retconned into history. You think I'm real, but I'm not."

"That's-"he was speechless. "Are you sure?"

"It was right there in Giles' book," she whispered. "They've all known for months, all of them. Buffy and Willow and Xander and Mom and Giles and Tara and Spike- all of them."

"Hold up. Did you say Spike?" Angel looked at her. "As in, bleached-blonde vampire who paints his nails and tries to kill people?"

Dawn laughed through her tears. "Another long story. Basically, he's harmless and he hangs with us now."

"Harmless? He _hangs?" _Angel was incredulous. "Hang on. Does he hang with _Buffy?" _

Dawn giggled at the shocked and disgusted expression on his face. "Not really. She's kind of mean to him. But I like him. He helped me break into the magic shop and find out this Key stuff. And he treats me like a person." She sniffed again. "Which, I guess, you can't blame the others for not doing that cause I'm not."

"Okay, and who's Tara?" Angel sat down on the desk, eager to change the subject on both of their behalves.

"Willow's girlfriend," Dawn said casually, sitting in the chair again. "I like her. She-"

"Hold up. Willow has a girlfriend? Willow's gay?" He looked at Dawn and was glad to see her smiling a bit.

"Yeah," she said, and then raised an eyebrow. "You got a problem with that? Cause if you do-"

"Nah." He laughed good-naturedly. "I kind of knew it, honestly. So what else has happened that I don't know about? Does Buffy have a boyfriend yet?" Dawn looked up at him, and he remembered. "Oh, yeah. I forgot. Riley. How are they?"

"Actually, he bolted," Dawn said carefully. "They, uh, were having some problems. Like he-was-getting-his-blood-sucked-by-vampire-hookers problems." Angel stared at her, and then laughed again.

"See, I knew that guy was no good." Angel snapped his fingers. "How is she, though?"

"Buffy?" Dawn shrugged. "I think she's okay. A little moody after Riley left, but she's coping, I guess."

"Is she happy?" Angel asked quietly.

Dawn looked at her feet. "I don't know. She's so hard to talk to sometimes."

"Today's her birthday, isn't it?" he said, and Dawn's eyes widened.

"Oh god, I forgot," she said, biting her lip.

"You forgot it was her birthday?" he laughed a little.

"No, of course I remembered, I just- when I ran away I wasn't thinking. Oh god, I'm a terrible human being," she said, and then stopped as her expression turned bitter. "Wait, I'm not. I'm not even a human being."

Angel leaned forward intently. "Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not!" Dawn burst into tears again, and for a moment, she looked just like Buffy. He felt uneasy- how many times had Buffy cried because of him?

"Dawn," he said earnestly, pushing thoughts of Buffy away from his brain. "Maybe you're not human. I don't know a lot about this Key thing; I'll have Wesley and Cordelia look into it. But you are _definitely _a person. There's no way a Key could be so beautiful and kind and intelligent."

"You don't know that about me," she sniffed. "You think I'm beautiful and kind and intelligent, and you're basing that off of a bunch of fake memories. Angel, this is the first time we've _really _met," she said, distressed. "Think about that. _We've never actually met before."_

"It doesn't matter if the memories aren't real," Angel said firmly. "It doesn't matter if you weren't real before- you are _now. _And I care about you. I love you. So does Buffy."

"You can't love something that isn't real," Dawn whispered. He sighed, ready to give up. But he didn't.

"Dawn, I've lived in this world for a really long time. If I've learned one thing in these two and a half centuries, it's that love doesn't have any barriers. Love supersedes what is and isn't real." Dawn sniffed, and looked up at him with shining eyes, waiting for him to say more. "Bottom line is, Dawn, I'm not a person either and I'm okay."

She offered a watery smile and he stood up. "So what are we gonna do?"

"What?" she sounded a little dazed, as if surprised that he was already back to business.

"You ran away, Dawn." He started to pace back and forth. "Should I take you home?"

"No!" She jumped up and accidentally knocked the chair over, but she didn't seem to notice. Or she just didn't care. "I- I can't go back there yet. Knowing what I know. I need time to cool down."

"So you just want me to keep you here." Angel raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah?" Dawn smiled hopefully.

He looked at her for a second and sighed, and her face fell. Then he started to laugh.

"Damn, I can't get away from you Summers women, can I?" he chuckled. "Okay, fine. You can stay here. It'll get me in trouble with Buffy, but she already hates me, so it's okay."

"Buffy doesn't even have to know," Dawn added, standing up. Angel stopped.

"Yes, she does." He looked straight at her. "I can do things behind her back, things that she won't like, and I can make her hate me, but I can't lie to her. Not ever."

Dawn was silent, and then said, "Why do you do that?"

"Do what?" He cocked his head.

"Talk to me like I'm a grown-up."

"I don't mean to." He shrugged. "Does it make you uncomfortable?"

"Don't be an idiot." Dawn started walking towards the door. "I like it."

She opened the door and jumped back as Cordelia and Wesley stumbled forward, looking sheepish. Angel shot them an exasperated expression.

"_For _the record," Wesley started, "_Cordelia _was listening in and _I _told her we _mustn't _but then I realized she couldn't be stopped, so-"

"Wesley." Angel laughed tiredly. "It's fine. Um, Dawn is going to spend the night here."

"Just tonight?" Dawn looked at him imploringly. "I don't want to go back there tomorrow either."

"Don't push it. We'll talk about it in the morning." Angel leaned against the door frame for a moment. "Cor, could you show Dawn around downstairs? I need to talk to Wesley."

"Okay, sure." Cordelia grabbed Dawn's arm enthusiastically and Dawn shot Angel a trapped look. He shrugged apologetically and then looked at Wesley, who had a particularly intense expression at this moment.

"In here." Angel went back to his desk, and Wesley followed, closing the door behind him.

Wesley sat down. Angel rested his head in his hands and groaned.

"Teenagers," he said after a moment of silence, "are exhausting."

Wesley said nothing. Angel looked up to see him still staring with a furrowed brow.

Angel threw his hands out. "What?"

"You wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah. This is _me _talking to _you. _For god's sake, Wesley, do you know how to have a casual conversation?"

"Sorry, Boss." Wesley straightened.

Angel laughed tiredly. "You don't have to call me that, Wesley."

Wesley cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, Angel." Before Angel could speak again, Wes asked, "What _is _Dawn doing here?"

Angel leaned back in his chair. "What do you know about the Key?"

"The Key?" Wesley leaned forward suddenly. "I know everything that _is _known about the Key, which is to say, not very much. What does it have to do with Dawn?"

"There were Monks protecting this Key, right?" Angel asked.

"Well, yes," Wesley said. "They-"

"And so they gave it human form."

"Well, yes," Wesley said again, "that was rumored. I still don't see how this concerns Dawn."

"Wes, use your brain." Angel sighed, exasperated. "They gave it human form. _Think._"

Wesley shook his head and then stopped dead. His eyes widened. _"Oh."_

"Yeah." Angel stood up and began to pace again. "Apparently everyone but Dawn knew and she didn't take it well."

"So she came to us?" Wesley asked.

"It sounds like that part was an accident," Angel said, leaning against the wall.

"No, I don't believe it was." Wesley stood up so he was facing Angel. "Think about it. Cordelia had a vision-"

"Because Dawn was being attacked by a vampire," Angel said dismissively. "That happens all the time. It was just a vampire."

"But that's just the thing. It never is," Wesley said earnestly. "Angel, there must be dozens of vampire and demon attacks in L.A. every night, but Cordelia doesn't get a dozen visions a night, because she couldn't. It would rip her head apart. But the ones that she _does _get, when is it _ever _just a vampire attack? It always leads to something else, a full case. Usually dangerous."

Angel straightened up. "You think Dawn's in danger?"

"I don't know." Wesley removed his glasses and started to clean them on the corner of his shirt. "But I think we should keep a close eye on her. Keep her here as long as we can get away with. I don't believe she's safe in Sunnydale."

* * *

Angel went upstairs and found Dawn sprawled out on his bed, wearing an oversized pair of plaid pajama pants that must have belonged to Cordelia. She looked up when she heard his footsteps and scrambled into a sitting position.

"Cordelia said I could sleep here," she explained hastily. "That is okay, right?"

"Of course." Angel came into the bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed. "I think there are a couple hundred bedrooms in here I haven't even been in yet." She giggled.

"Are you, um, going to be okay?" he asked a little awkwardly.

"I'll be fine. I'm not an invalid or anything. Just a little freaked." She flopped backwards on to the pillow. "But I mean, it's understandable, isn't it? I mean, you don't think I'm a complete brat for ditching?"

"No." Angel held eye contact with her. "I think running away is thoughtless, because they're going to worry about you-"

"Then why are you protecting me?" Dawn blurted, sitting up again.

Angel sighed. "I thought you wanted me to."

"Of course I do. But I mean, legally this is kind of kidnapping, right? And you know it isn't right. That Buffy wouldn't like it. You said it yourself. But you're doing it anyway. Why?"

Angel thought of a dozen different things to say. But he didn't say any of them.

He did say "Go to bed, Dawn. Wake me up if you need anything."

He stomped back through the doorway. "Goodnight," Dawn called after him.


	3. Chapter Three

Angel woke several times in the middle of the night, always after hearing a dream-Dawn scream. He would run down the hall to the bedroom doorway to check on her and found her there, sleeping soundly.

He woke that morning several hours before she did, but he couldn't get back to sleep. He took a shower, got dressed, and straightened up the already clean main lobby several times before he came back to the bedroom doorway and found her sitting up in the bed this time, blinking sleepily.

"Morning," he said in the friendliest voice he could muster. She stared back at him blankly, apparently too incoherent to respond yet. She flopped backwards again and let out a moan.

_Are teenagers always like this? _Angel thought in mild confusion and bewilderment. _I should call Cordelia. She's practically a teenager still. Cordelia can help me._

Angel had faced innumerable demons and monsters, but teenage girls were new, and far more terrifying. Sure, he'd been around teenage girls before, but not like _this. _He'd never been _responsible _for one before.

"Um, bathroom's that way if you need to take a shower or something," he said, bravely making another stab at communication with the incoherent teen. "I don't actually have any food or anything, so I'll have Cordelia bring by donuts or something when she comes in today. I'll be downstairs."

Full moment of silence, and he prepared to flinch, waiting for her to scream at him or roll her eyes or something.

Instead, she stared back at him through an expression of sleepy bewilderment and slowly nodded.

* * *

Dawn didn't sleep well. She dreamed that Glory kidnapped her out of her bed and tried to ram her head into a giant lock. Then Buffy showed up in a Wonder Woman costume and said "This time, Glory, I can stop you because I use Oxi Clean! Stain be gone!" and she sprayed Glory with a giant bottle and Glory turned into a perfectly clean white t-shirt. Then Buffy tried to leave, and Dawn said, "Buffy, don't leave me" and Buffy glared at her and said "you're not even my sister". And then she turned into Joyce, who said "you were always a disappointment to me" who turned into Giles, who said "I'll never let you ride in my car again, you bloody Key" who turned Dawn's Spanish teacher, who said "¿Quièn es usted?" who turned into Tara, who said "I'll never take you to the movies again", who finally turned into Glory, who cackled evilly and stabbed Dawn with a dagger. Dawn screamed.

* * *

"Dawn? _Dawn! _Wake up."

Dawn gasped and opened her eyes. Angel was leaning over her, holding her by her shoulders.

"Are you okay?" he asked as she sat up. "I heard you scream."

"I- I think so," she mumbled. "I didn't sleep well. I had a lot of weird dreams."

Angel nodded understandingly. He paused, and then said, "Are you actually going to get out of bed this time?"

"This- this time?" She blinked in confusion.

"Yeah. You woke up twice before and- fell back asleep." Angel's eyes held hers. God, he made every conversation feel like they were preparing to go to a funeral.

"Oh." She rubbed her eyes. "Well, I think I'm awake now.

"Okay." He stood up. "I'll be downstairs."

He left the room and pulled the door shut behind him. Dawn flopped backwards and closed her eyes.

And fell asleep.

Again.

* * *

Angel was studying an old book in a language that wasn't even human when the door swung open and Cordelia came in, carrying a bright pink box of donuts. Wesley was right behind her with a large bag of groceries.

"Wesley was being responsible and decided that we should bring Dawn some food that isn't coated in processed sugar," Cordelia said brightly. "So we kind of brought you way too many groceries, even though we don't know how long Dawn will be here, and anyway I figured you're so thin it wouldn't hurt if we-"

"Good morning to you too, Cordelia," Angel said dryly, as Cordelia twirled around and dropped the box on top of the filing cabinet.

"No need for sarcasm, Angel," Cordelia said, unperturbed. "I was _going _to say good morning. Good morning, Angel. See?"

"Yes, we all get it, Cordelia, thank you," Wesley said, sounding particularly exhausted. As he should be. God knew what a trip to the grocery store with Cordelia could do to a man.

"Where's Dawn?" Cordelia asked.

"I think she's taking a shower," Angel said, leaning back in his chair. "Or at least she said she was going to several hours ago before she fell asleep again. The first time." He glanced up at Cordelia, brow furrowed. "Is it normal for teenagers to sleep this much? Is she sick?"

"Sick?" Cordelia laughed, but Angel had jumped up from his desk and was up next to Cordelia.

"Cordelia, help me," he begged, grabbing her shoulders. "What do I do with her? Everything I say, she rolls her eyes or starts to cry. What am I doing wrong?"

Cordelia stared at him in disbelief and then started to laugh. "Angel, chill. The only mistake you made was taking in a fourteen-year-old hormone bomb when you clearly don't know the first thing about teenagers. Or people."

"Besides that, you forget that Dawn is a very special case," Wesley spoke up, meeting Angel's eye, and Angel noticed that Wesley's own eyes were extremely shadowed and bloodshot.

"Well, yeah," Cordelia said. "Living in Miss Sunnydale's shadow can't be an easy thing." Wesley and Angel exchanged looks, and Cordelia narrowed her eyes. "I saw that. There's an 'and', isn't there? What's the 'and'? C'mon, I don't like not knowing stuff."

Angel hastily explained everything about the Key and how Dawn had reacted to it. There were many "oh"s, "wow"s, and then a quiet "damn" from Cordelia.

"No wonder she freaked," she said after Angel had finished.

"Yeah," Angel said. "I mean, it's hard enough to try to figure out who you are at 14. Imagine finding out your whole existence was a lie."

"No, I didn't mean _that,_" Cordelia said. "I meant about the part where she's a big green blob of energy. Green is so unattractive!" Angel stared at her in disbelief. "And not really her best color, either."

"Thanks, Cordelia," Dawn's voice said from the doorway. The three adults turned around to see Dawn standing there in the same clothes she'd had on yesterday. Her hair was dripping wet and tied up in a towel. "Lucky for you, the only shirt I brought is green." She looked down at it. "Oh good, you guys brought food," she said, striding over to the file cabinet. "I'm starved. And the only thing that guy has in his fridge is O negative."

"I _told _you that," Angel said tiredly.

Dawn looked at him blankly. "You did? When?"

"When you woke up the first time."

Dawn rolled her eyes as she bit into a glazed donut. "You really expect me to remember anything you said at _that _unholy hour?"

Angel kicked against the floor so that his chair rolled back and hit the wall. "Dawn, that was at eight-thirty."

Dawn nodded. "Like I said. Unholy. But I mean, you're a vampire, so I guess that makes sense. If you woke up at a _holy _hour, whatever that is, you'd probably explode, right?" She sat down on a chair and took another bite of the donut, chewing thoughtfully. "Hey, do you have to sleep through Sundays or something? Like, would you blow up if you left the house on Sunday? Can you even go inside churches?"

Angel opened his mouth resignedly, but apparently the teen hadn't finished talking yet. "Also, you said we would talk today about how long I could stay. So."

Angel waited for her to say something, but she just stared back at him, arms crossed defiantly. "So… what?" he asked in mild confusion.

Dawn rolled her eyes. "_So, _let's talk. Man, do you ever _talk _to people?"

"Of course I do," Angel said in the most patient voice he could muster.

"Actually, aside from us, he doesn't really-" Cordelia started, and Wesley stepped on her foot. _"_What was _that _for?_" _she said loudly, and then saw the irked expression on Angel's face. "O_kay. _Shutting up now."

Dawn looked at Angel expectantly. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I don't know, Dawn. We don't- we're gonna look more into this Key thing today, find out if you're in any actual danger in Sunnydale. If you're not- there's not really any reason to keep you here."

Dawn's eyes darkened. "Okay, sure. No reason to keep me here, according to _you. _What about _me? _What about _my _feelings?"

"Uh-" the appearance of the word "feelings" had moved the conversation thoroughly out of Angel's comfort zone.

"_I _want to stay with you guys. I _want _to stay with you guys. Doesn't that mean _any_thing to you?" Dawn shouted, and stormed up the stairs in tears.

Angel stared after her, dazed. "How did she start crying so quickly?"

Cordelia made a "tsk"ing noise. "Angel, you may be qualified for a lot of things, but parenting is not one of them." She wandered over to his desk and picked up a book. "Maybe it'll make her feel better if we _actually _start to look into this Key thing."

"Yes, let's," Wesley said, picking up a book and not meeting Angel's eyes.

"Wes, is there something you want to talk about?" Angel asked, looking straight at him.

Wesley was silent. "Oh, look, Cordelia," he said suddenly, jabbing a finger at a page. "Look at that demon."

"What about it?" she glanced at the page.

"It's just- it's rather un_usual, _isn't it?"

"Wesley, can it," Angel snapped. "What's up? And why do you look like you got hit by a truck?"

Wesley cleared his throat. "Um, last night I was studying the Scrolls of Aberjian."

"And?" Angel raised an eyebrow.

"_And, _there's a paragraph about the Key."

Angel waited. Wesley didn't continue. Angel slammed his fist on his desk. "Dammit, Wesley, do I have to prompt you for _everything? _What did it say?"

"For one, I now know specifically what the Key does." Wesley closed his eyes, as if remembering. "'And the walls of the universe shall come down, allowing every dimension to bleed into the next'."

"Okay." Angel stood up and started pacing. "Is that all?"

"No." Wesley sighed deeply. "If the dimensional walls are opened, the only way to close them again is to kill the Key."

"So?" Angel threw his hands out. "We just don't let anyone open the walls. Dawn doesn't die. Easy."

"Not so." Wesley rested his head in his hands. "The Scrolls also mentioned something about a hell-Goddess. Glorificus."

"Yeah, I've heard of her." Angel stopped pacing briefly, and then started again. "What about her?" He looked up sharply. "Don't tell me she's-"

"-looking for the Key," Wes finished weakly.

"Damn," Angel muttered. "Okay. Is she here?"

Wesley took his glasses off and started cleaning them just as he had the previous night. "No. I contacted the Council to find out what they knew, and it turns out she's looking for the Key in Sunnydale."

"So- so-" Angel was thinking quickly. "So if we kept her here, would she be safe?"

"I- suppose so," Wesley said, putting his glasses back on.

"Are we gonna tell Buffy?" Cordelia spoke up.

Angel ran a hand through his hair. "No," he said firmly.

"Are you sure?" Cordelia wrinkled her nose. "It's a little ooky, isn't it? Keeping her kid sister here without telling her?"

"What's ooky is a hell-Goddess trying to kill a ninth-grader," Angel said loudly. "If Buffy figures out that Dawn came here, so be it. If Dawn wants to go home, fine. But I ain't telling Buffy. Dawn's gonna stay here, and Buffy's not gonna know. O_kay?"_

"Geez, are you still not over her?" Cordelia said quietly, but Angel heard. He shoved his entire desk onto its side, and Cordelia and Wesley leaped back in shock.

"If you say another word about Buffy," he whispered darkly, and then stopped. "Forget it. Let's keep working on this Key thing."


	4. Chapter Four

That evening, Wesley was translating the rest of the Scrolls to see if there was anything else on the Key or Glory that he'd missed and Angel was flipping through some of the older history books. Cordelia was scouring the online databases for any information they didn't have yet. Dawn was sprawled out on the ground waving her feet around over her head and reading a book about spells.

"Anything?" Angel asked, slamming a book shut in frustration.

"No, not yet," Wesley murmured. "Hang on, yes! I think I found something." He squinted at the page and then shook his head. "No, that's not 'key', that's 'box'. Nevermind."

Angel groaned and closed his eyes. "This is pointless."

"Way to have some team spirit, soul-boy," Cordelia said idly, staring at the computer screen. "Though you're kind of right. I can't find _any_thing on the Web about this Key or the what's-her-face hell-Goddess."

"What do you need to know about the Key that you don't know already?" Dawn piped up, not taking her eyes off of her book. "Almost as old as Glory is, opens the walls to Hell, right here hearing everything you say."

"Dawn, we're doing our best," Angel said wearily.

"Sorry," she muttered, swinging her feet back and forth in the air.

"That's it." Cordelia stood up. "I have _got _to take a break, or my eyes are going to burn up and fall out of my skull." Dawn stared at her in horror. "That was a _metaphor, _young one."

"You never know," Dawn muttered.

Cordelia ignored her. "I think I'll make a coffee run, anyone else want?"

"Get me one of those pumpkin spice latte things," Wesley said absently, cleaning his glasses for what seemed to Angel like the hundredth time that evening. "Pumpkin and coffee, who'd've thought? Perhaps you Americans _do _have something to contribute to the world after all."

"I'm going to ignore that last sentence," Cordelia said brightly. "Angel, you want anything? I don't think they make blood lattes at Starbucks, but-"

"Anything that'll keep me from losing my mind over these damn books," Angel muttered.

"Aw, did somebody not get his beauty sleep today?" Cordelia teased, and patted him on the head as she walked by. He shot her a brooding glare. "Got it, Mr. Grumpy-Pants. And Dawnie, I'll bring you back a hot chocolate."

"I have a better idea." Dawn stood up and smiled hopefully. "How bout I… come with you?"

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," Angel said hesitantly. "There might be people looking for you."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "C'mon. I doubt Buffy and Mom have filed a report yet. I run away all the time." Everyone looked at her. "Okay, not _all _the time, but I disappear a lot. After school and stuff. They probably haven't finished calling all of my friends' houses yet. Please?" She put on her most winning smile, which still managed to be pretty irritating.

"I guess," Angel said warily. "But be quick. And don't draw a lot of attention to yourself. And Cordelia, don't let her out of your sight."

Cordelia nodded. Dawn rolled her eyes.

"You know," Wesley called as they made their way to the door, "if you keep doing that, your face will-"

"Freeze like this?" Dawn said nonchalantly, opening the door to the hallway. "I think I can live with that, Nancy boy, thanks."

* * *

Dawn watched Cordelia at the Starbucks counter, letting the poor barista know on no uncertain terms what she was ordering. "Pumpkin spice latte for my friend from across the pond, so you gotta make it _perfect _because he thinks it's the only valuable thing Americans have to contribute to society, and let's face it, he's probably right. And a double espresso for my boss who needs to learn how to _not _brood all the time. And a hot chocolate with minimal marshmallows because the kid's hyper enough already." Dawn rolled her eyes. "And _I'm _going to have a…"

Dawn slumped into a chair and her eyes wandered to the T.V., where a human Ken doll was delivering the weather forecast. "Expected high of 87 tomorrow, with scattered thunderstorms around 1 o'clock..."

The door opened with the tingle of a bell, and Dawn's stomach dropped as a young blonde woman in a leather jacket stepped through. All the blood rushed to her face and one thought came clear to mind- _What the heck am I going to tell her? _

But in the time that it took for this thought to go through her brain, the young woman had turned around- and it wasn't her sister. Dawn's shoulders relaxed. _She doesn't know I'm here. She has no way of knowing._

"-Dawn Summers," a voice said out of nowhere, and her insides turned again. She looked around quickly to see who had said it, and her eyes landed on the T.V. The words _Amber Alert _were racing across the top of the screen- and her own school picture was staring back at her.

"Dawn was last seen at her home in Sunnydale, California," a female newscaster said in a grave voice. "Dawn is fourteen years old, 5'4" and has long brown hair and green eyes. She was last seen wearing high-waisted jeans and a longsleeved green t-shirt-" Dawn quickly tugged the jacket Cordelia had lent her closed "–and a jean jacket. It is believed that Dawn may be a danger to herself and others."

Dawn felt sick. She saw Cordelia rushing up to her with a tray of coffees and an aghast expression, but the picture was blurry and out-of-focus.

"Come on, sweetie, let's go home," she said in a hushed, urgent voice, and steered Dawn to the door.

"Cordelia, I'm gonna be sick," Dawn managed in a voice that was half-sob, half-shout.

"Me too, baby," Cordelia whispered, guiding her through the door. "Let's get back to Angel's and sort this all-"

"No, I really am," Dawn gasped, and vomited on her shoes.

Angel watched Dawn curled up on his bed, staring at the ceiling with eyes full of tears that refused to fall. He caught himself thinking again that when she cried she looked just like-

He bit his tongue sharply in frustration and could taste his own blood. He heard a noise behind him and jumped.

"Angel?" Cordelia said tentatively. He looked up wearily and saw her standing there with a cup in one hand. "Hey. Coffee? I reheated it for you."

"God yes." He took the cup from her and exhaled. Cordelia sat down and watched him through eyes laced with worry.

"I'm _really _sorry about what happened," she said quietly. "With Dawn."

Angel sipped the coffee. "It's not your fault," he said firmly. "It would've been better if she hadn't had to see it like that, but she wanted to go with you.

"I still feel awful," Cordelia murmured. "Just that it happened at all. All of this. She's just a kid. She shouldn't have to go through this. I feel terrible for her."

"Me too." He sighed and sat the cup down on the table next to him and sat his head in his hands. "This is it. We're idiots. We're taking her back to Sunnydale."

"Do you think she wants to?" Cordelia asked tensely.

"Don't know." Angel stared at the ground. "Haven't spoken to her yet."

"Well, maybe you should," Cordelia snapped suddenly, and smacked him. He jerked up and looked at her in shock.

"God, what is wrong with you? We have a poor little girl here who's going through the most justified existential crisis in the history of teenage mood problems, and all you can do is sit here and brood? Go _talk _to her! Stop feeling bad about how _she'_s feeling and start actually trying to help her. _God." _Cordelia stood up and started to walk away, and then stopped and turned. Angel gazed at her wearily. "That was the old me again, wasn't it?" she asked worriedly.

Angel laughed in spite of himself. "Cordelia, without the old you nothing would ever get done around here. You're right. I'll talk to her."

Cordelia smiled and started to walk away, and then buckled. Angel jumped up and grabbed her before she hit the ground.

"Easy," he murmured, watching her grab her head in agony. She let out a shriek and then abruptly stopped.

"What is it?" he asked urgently, as her hand fell to her lap and her eyes slowly opened. "Cordelia, what _is _it?"

* * *

"Listen, kiddos," the woman drawled, circling the desk in a manner reminiscent of a vulture, if vultures wore high heels and had bad home perms. "The way I see it, we both have a problem that we could help each other out with. _My _problem is that I've lost something of mine and I need to find it _very _quickly. _Your _problem is that I could crush your skulls like grapes with my little finger. You help me with my problem, I help you with yours." She beamed. "I don't kill you. Deal?"

Lindsey gulped. "Deal," he said too quickly. Lilah gave him a beyond exasperated look. "What choice do we have?" he whispered.

"Oh, Lindsey, Lindsey, _Lindsey_." The woman let out a manic laugh. "First of all, no whispering around me. I hear _everything, _and if I hear that you're trying to _stop _me from hearing you I will be _very _cranky. Second, you _always _have a choice, pumpkin." She gave them a smile that would've been almost friendly if it weren't a complete leer. "It's just that in this case, you're choosing between helping me out and death. You don't wanna die, do you, Lilah?" She cocked her head slowly so that it was less of a cock and more of a slow, deliberate swoop. Like a vulture. Lilah stared at her coldly. The woman suddenly rushed up and pinned Lilah to the wall, seizing her throat. _"Do _you, Lilah?" she repeated menacingly.

Lilah's face was frozen in terror. "No," she gasped.

The woman let her go. "Well, isn't _that _great!" She beamed in a way that could almost be described as amiable if she hadn't just tried to kill Lilah. "Otherwise, I'd have to kill you, and I really don't wanna." She stopped. "Actually, I really do, but I feel like we have _such _a strong connection already," she simpered. She clasped her hands together and squealed. "Oh, we're going to be _such _good friends!"

"Yes, ma'am," Lindsey said woodenly. The woman doubled back on him again and he stiffened.

"Please," she said, and offered another vile grin as she stuck out her right arm for a handshake. "Call me Glory."


	5. Chapter Five

"So Glorificus is _here?" _Angel demanded, running a hand through his hair. "Like, in L.A. here?'

"No, I was just joking the first 85 times I said that," Cordelia snapped. "_Yes, _Angel, in L.A. here. Get over your denial already. Move on to anger."

"Cordelia, this would be one of those rare occasions where you could deign to exercise that thing called tact," Angel snapped, his eyes darkening.

"That's anger," she muttered.

"That's it. Dawn!" he shouted, striding over to the bedroom. Dawn scrambled into a sitting position, wiping tears out of her eyes. "We're leaving," he told the teen, whose reaction was almost nonexistent.

"Okay," she said slowly, climbing off of the bed. Angel waited for her to ask why. She didn't.

"Cordelia had a vision," he said, dropping pretenses. "Glory's here. In L.A." He waited again for a reaction. But she didn't even shrug or roll her eyes.

"Okay," she said again, and leaned against the wall. "We leaving now?"

"Yeah," Angel said slowly, a little confused by her apparent indifference on the subject. "You don't seem too concerned."

"Do you _want _me to be freaking out?" she asked flatly.

He stared at her for a second and then shook his head. "Course not. Come on. Get your things."

"This is it," she said, slipping her arms into the sleeves of her jean jacket. "Is the sun down?"

"Yeah." Angel grabbed his coat, feeling inexplicably flustered. "Let's get out of here."

They took the elevator downstairs and he watched her, staring at the ceiling listlessly. She wasn't even staring at the ceiling. Her gaze went farther, through the walls and out the top of the ceiling. Just staring into endless space. It scared him.

"Dawn," he snapped, sounding more hostile than he'd intended. She glanced up, looking a little hurt.

"Are you okay?" he asked in a kinder voice. She shrugged.

"Well, let's see. There's an Amber Alert with my name on it, a Hell-Goddess is trying to kill me, and I just spent twenty minutes puking my guts out in a vampire's bathroom." The corners of her mouth lifted ever so slightly. "So overall, not the greatest day of my brief existence."

"I know the feeling." The elevator doors opened and he lowered a protective arm over her shoulders. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

Lindsey flinched and ducked as Glory let out an unearthly screech and a marble bust of the original Wolfram narrowly missed his head, smashing against the wall behind him.

"Lindsey, my Key is getting a_way," _she whined, sounding just like a petulant child. She pressed a hand to her temple and closed her eyes. "I can _feel _it leaving. But you _can't _let it. You're not _going _to let it, not if you want me to keep up my end of the bargain."

"Can't you just follow it again?" Lindsey asked. This was clearly not a wise choice.

"Lindsey, I feel like you're forgetting your position in the food chain," she said breezily, beginning to circle around his desk once again. "Glory is a goddess. Lindsey is a lowly human- no, Lindsey is a _lawyer, _even lowlier than a human. Goddess can kill Lawyer. Goddess has not killed Lawyer, because Goddess wants Key. If Lawyer doesn't get Key _very, very soon- _Goddess kills Lawyer." She picked up another marble bust and crushed it between her two hands. "_Get _it?"

Lindsey got it. He picked up his pager. "Bring me Item 11 from the vault," he said in a low voice.

"Are you taking care of my Key?" Glory gave him a challenging stare.

"Yes." Lindsey clenched his teeth. Hell-Goddess or no, this woman was really starting to grate on his nerves. "I'm going to stop it from getting away until we can locate it." Glory clapped her hands.

"I love it when people do what I tell them to," she said giddily. "It saves me the trouble of killing them."

Dawn was staring out the car window, her eyes running over every building they passed by. It made Angel uncomfortable, watching her just _stare. _

"It's okay if you're angry," he said suddenly, to break the silence.

"Then I hate to disappoint you," the girl replied evenly, still gazing at the streets of L.A. that passed in a blur.

He sighed and tried again. "I shouldn't have kept you here to begin with. It was a bad idea. I know I was an idiot."

"Oh, so do I." Dawn said frankly. "I didn't say you weren't. But I'm not holding anything against you. You couldn't have been stupid by keeping me here if I hadn't run away in the first place. And I still don't want to go back, but I guess we don't have any other choice."

"I suppose not," Angel agreed.

"I just-" Dawn began, and then stopped.

"What?" Angel glanced over at her.

"Eyes on the road," Dawn said playfully, and he smiled and obeyed.

"I guess I like being here with you because it kind of feels like having a dad again." Angel looked at her sharply and she scrunched her shoulders up like she did when she got nervous. "Did that sound weird? That sounded weird."

"It's not weird," Angel said slowly, staring at the headlights of the car ahead of them.

"It's just, I dunno." Dawn pulled her knees up onto the seat and wrapped her arms around them. "Riley was kinda like that, you know? And then he left in the middle of the night without even saying goodbye. To anyone." She bit her lip. "It hit me harder than anyone thought. Everyone was all over Buffy when he left, comforting her, but no-one really thought I would mind. But I mean, just because he never stuck his tongue in my mouth doesn't mean I didn't want- _need _him around, you know?" She sighed. "But people leave. I'm learning that."

"And sometimes you just gotta move on," Angel said gently.

She snorted. "Yeah, just like you're moving on from Buffy."

"That's unfair." He looked away, stung.

"How?" She turned on him. "Buffy's moved on. She's moved on a million times. She and Riley were happy- until they weren't –but the point is she's _moved on. _You haven't."

"It's different, Dawn." He gazed at the road, turning his hand idly. "I _can't _move on. I have to live my life in the darkness like this. Because of the curse that, you know…" he trailed off trying to think about how to explain it to a kid.

"Because you lose your soul whenever you have an orgasm?" she said matter-of-factly, and he stared at her. She giggled. "Shocker, the 14-year-old knows PG-13 words!"

He laughed weakly. "That sums it up. And y'know, I still love Buffy. I think I always will." Dawn smiled gently. "So I guess, yeah, I can't really judge you in the moving on department."

There was a longer pause this time, several minutes, as they left the main bustle of downtown L.A., reaching the city's edge.

"The dad thing was weird," Dawn said suddenly, pulling her hair out of her face. "That was so weird. I can't believe I said that."

"It's not weird," Angel said again. "Dawn, you've been through a lot. It's normal to want- but I mean, you have Giles. He's something, right?"

"He's _something," _the girl replied, gazing out the window again. "But what with the whole Watcher-Slayer thing- he's so wrapped up in Buffy."

"What, and Riley wasn't?"

Dawn giggled again. It was a good sound.

A few more moments of silence. "Angel, can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"Are you sure?" He wasn't looking at her, but he could tell from her tone of voice that she was raising her eyebrows. "Because you might regret that when you hear what my question is."

"Go ahead." He turned the steering wheel with one hand.

"If you could get back together with Buffy, would you?"

He stared at the road, not wanting to answer. He could feel his eyes on her, watching. Waiting.

He let out a breath. "Dawn, you know I love your sister. I'll always love her."

"But?" she prodded.

He sighed. "There's a lot of those. For starters, the last time Buffy and I got together, I murdered a bunch of her friends. It would just never work."

"It's not fair," Dawn said quietly.

"No." He shook his head. "It never is."

More silence. "But you know," he spoke up, "sometimes in life you just gotta make the best of-"

But he never finished that sentence, because at the exact moment that they should've exited the city of Los Angeles, the car seemed to slam into something that wasn't there and it went hurtling backwards through the air. Dawn shrieked, and the car slammed against the ground with an unearthly quake, spinning backwards at a terrifying speed. The last thing Angel thought before he went unconscious was _If one of us dies, Buffy's gonna kill me._

"Is he awake?" Wesley poked his head into the bedroom, where Angel was crumpled on the bed, shirtless and bleeding.

"Not yet," Cordelia murmured, laying a wet cloth over his forehead. "How's Dawn?"

"Exhausted and traumatized, but Angel seems to have taken the brunt of the physical injury for the two of them." Wesley looked back at the couch, where Dawn was curled up under a blanket.

"Any luck on figuring out what caused this?" Cordelia looked up at him.

"Not thus far." Wesley sat down on the end of the bed. "Obviously it's some sort of barrier, but-"

"Could it be the hell bitch?" Cordelia asked. "Like, a spell or something?"

"As far as I know, Hell-gods don't possess any sort of magic ability, merely superhuman strength and speed," Wesley answered, running a hand through his hair. "And as far as I can tell, such a powerful barrier- we are to assume that this runs the entire perimeter of the city, of course –well, it would have to be powered by something."

"Like an ancient artifact?" Cordelia looked up sharply. "A very dangerous, powerful one that would be kept under lock and key?"

"W-well, yes, I suppose so," Wes said, his brow furrowing. "What are you-"

Cordelia threw her head back, exasperated. "God, Wesley, you're so busy reading books and being smart that sometimes I think you forget to use your brain." She looked at him, prompting him. "_Think. _Who do we know who likes to collect magical souvenirs and make Angel's life very difficult? Often at the same time?"

"Good god." Wesley's eyes widened. "You really think-"

_"Yes, _I really think, otherwise I wouldn't have said it." Cordelia rolled her eyes.

"The law firm?" Wesley rested his head on one hand, still processing this.

"Bingo." Cordelia crossed her arms in satisfaction.

"But what would they want with the Key?" Wesley started, and then halted. "Oh. Oh, my dear lord."

"You'd think they wouldn't be stupid enough to help out a Hell goddess," Cordelia commented.

"Well, I don't reckon they have much of a choice," Wesley said. "It's probably a matter of do-or-die. From what I can gather from the books- and from what Dawn's told us –Glorificus seems quite temperamental."

"What about Glory?" They looked up to see Dawn standing in the doorway.

"Well, for one, she's here in-" Wesley began, and Dawn cut him off.

"Wesley, you _know _that I know that." She crossed her arms. "I meant just now. You said her name. Or the long one, anyway."

"Um." Cordelia looked down and then smiled up at the girl. "Dawnie, here's the thing. We have these lawyer friends of ours- well, they're not really friends, more like mortal enemies –and we're pretty sure they're giving Glory a hand in, well, finding you. And then killing you." Dawn's eyes widened in terror, and Wesley shot Cordelia a disparaging look. She realized her mistake. "Uh, but it's not like that. Not kill you kill you. I mean, yes kill you kill you, but we're not gonna-" Cordelia stopped abruptly. "God, will no-one shut me up?"

Dawn's eyes were filled with scared tears. "Is there anyone on this planet who doesn't want me dead?" she shouted, and ran off, throwing herself on the couch in despair. Cordelia sighed.

"What are we going to do about her?" she asked in a quieter voice, her eyes straying to the unconscious Angel. "He's gonna be off daddy duty for a while, but taking her home is obviously out of the question. Should we at least call them?"

"Let's wait until Angel wakes up," Wesley advised. "He'll know what to do."

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Yeah, like he's the rational decision maker. His rationale in anything involving Buffy is-" she lowered her voice to imitate Angel. "-'keep Buffy out of it for her own good because it's too dangerous and I'm too manly and brooding to even let The Chosen One take over because The Chosen One is a woman." She rolled her eyes again. "Come on, Wes. You know Buffy would hate being kept out of the loop on this."

"Regardless, I feel that it would be better to keep this all low-key until we have a better grasp on what Wolfram and Hart is planning to do," Wesley said sagely. "Glory's too strong even for Buffy, and if we had the Slayer running in on things that'd be a dead giveaway."

"And the giveaway wouldn't be the only thing that was dead," Cordelia said, realizing. "Oh-kay. We'll wait until Angel wakes up."

Just then, Angel stirred and groaned. Cordelia strained to see his face and Wesley scrambled over to the other side of the bed.

"Hey, Boss," Cordelia said brightly as his eyes opened a crack. "How're you feeling?"

Angel didn't respond and looked around the room. "Dawn-?" he asked hoarsely.

"She's in there." Cordelia gestured through the doorway. "She's fine. A little bruised and emotional, but fine."

Angel closed his eyes again, his breathing heavy and labored. "What- happened?" he asked, his body trembling with the effort of forming words.

Cordelia opened her mouth, but Wesley shot her a look. "We don't know quite yet," he said, grabbing one of Angel's hands with his own. "We're working on it. Right now, you need to rest."

Angel didn't answer, and Wesley sighed. "I'll get back on it," he said to Cordelia in a low voice. "I'll look through the books to see if there's anything on magical barriers and what could have caused it. As soon as we know what they're using, we'll be able to figure out how to stop it."

"Okay." Cordelia glanced at Angel worriedly. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

"I certainly hope so," Wesley said grimly, and got up from the bed. "Let me know if his condition changes."


	6. Chapter Six

**A/N: Sorry this one took a while. This chapter was difficult, but I hope it's good. Plot's finally getting into gear! Thank you so much to all of you who are reading this- 1500 views, wow. Remember, it only takes seconds to review, and reviews are awesomeness, even when they're against the story. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Angel was wandering down a dark alleyway with his hands in his pockets. The alley was quiet. _But it can't be quiet, _he told himself, _or you wouldn't be here._

He heard a scuffling from behind him, and he whirled around, all senses on alert. "I know you're there," he shouted, but his voice just echoed back at him. The wind in the alley picket up, and he felt a crawling sensation run through him. There was something there.

The high whistle of the wind quieted, and gave way to another sound. The high, lilting sing-song of a young girl's voice.

He turned around again and relaxed when he saw that it was only a little girl of about nine or ten, wearing a white nightdress and her hair in two long braids.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked, but she didn't seem to hear him. She was singing, singing and skipping, holding a doll in each hand. And he recognized her from somewhere. Something wasn't right. The momentary relaxation that he had felt melted, and gave way to an even stronger feeling of uneasiness.

"Angel," she said happily, looking up at him, and it clicked.

"Dawn?" he said hoarsely, and she resumed playing with her dolls. "Dawn, talk to me," he demanded, but she just slumped into sitting position on the ground, crossing her legs and playing with the dolls.

"Sister isn't playing nice," she said in a sing-song voice, holding up the first of the dolls, with blonde hair. "Sister's going to do something very stupid, and then she's going to get hurt. She won't be able to do anything to help you."

"Dawn, what are you talking about?" he practically shouted, feeling a sense of dread seize him.

"Sister thinks she's better than me," Dawn lilted on, twirling her braid. "I'm going to show her. She's not going to be there to help you when you need it, but I will. And then I'm going to die."

He froze and felt his skin start to crawl. "You're not going to die, Dawn. No-one's going to die."

"I am," she said cheerfully, and stood up. "You'd better get back to them. They won't be able to do anything useful until you get back to them."

"She's right, you know," a voice said right behind him, and he spun, almost hitting Buffy in the face._ Buffy. _She was standing there in a short black dress that camouflaged her with the night. She tilted her head and smiled, but her smile gave him shivers all over again.

"Buffy, what the hell's going on?" he tried to yell, but it came out as more of a sob.

"She's going to die," Buffy said as though he hadn't spoken. "And it's going to be your fault when she does." She stepped forward and kissed his forehead. "You're going to try to save her, Angel, but you won't be able to. She's going to die. Because as much as you try to be a hero-" she put her hands under his shirt and ran them up his body. "-you're just a failure. And a killer. A nasty, poisonous killer. Go to hell, Angel," she whispered, placing dark kisses all over his neck. "And stay there this time."

* * *

Angel sat straight up and opened his eyes, blinking frantically. He felt wet and cold and hot and sore and oh hell, what was this?

"Angel?" Cordelia's voice called from somewhere far away. His eyes finally focused on her, sitting right in front of him.

"Cordelia," he sobbed, throwing himself at her. "Cordelia, help me. Dawn's going to die and Buffy thinks I'm a killer and-"

"Shh," she whispered, gently placing her hands on his shoulders and pushing his head back down onto the pillow. "Don't try to sit up yet."

He closed his eyes again and sunk into the mattress, focusing all his energy into not trembling violently. He felt Cordelia's hand clasping his tightly.

"Where's Dawn?" he managed, gasping for breath.

"With Wesley," Cordelia soothed, smoothing his hair down. "He took her to his place for lunch. She needed to get out."

"She's okay?" he opened his eyes and looked up at her.

Cordelia held his gaze and smiled sadly. "She's okay. She didn't get hurt. Now _please, _Angel, I need you to rest."

Angel felt his body begin to tremble again, out of his control. He felt a burning pain in his right temple, as if someone were holding a hot coil to his head. He felt Cordelia's hands rubbing soothing circles on his shoulders, and he allowed himself to relax, lapsing into a fitful sleep again.

* * *

Angel awoke again sometime later. Cordelia was gone this time, and instead Wesley was slumped in a chair beside the bed, sleeping. He sat up slowly, the pain gone from his head.

The bedsprings creaked and Wesley awoke with a start, rubbing his eyes. "Angel," he said blearily, and fumbled in his pocket, producing his glasses. He slipped them on and scrambled to Angel's side. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit by a train and had my blood sucked," Angel muttered, slumping back against the headboard. "How- how long have I been out?"

"Since last night," Wesley supplied unhelpfully, and Angel gave him the best glare he could in this shuddery, weakened state. "Sorry. Um, almost a whole day."

"Damn." Angel felt his head began to throb again and laid back down. "Where's Cordelia? And Dawn?"

"Upstairs," Wesley answered, standing up. "Researching the cause of- er –whatever it was that prevented you from leaving the city. We assume it's some sort of magical barrier. Of what caused it, we're less certain."

"So Dawn's fine?" Angel wiped a sheen of sweat from his forehead.

"Well, yes," Wesley replied, leaning forward. "Are you quite alright, Angel?"

"It's just- I don't understand." Angel sat up and rested his head on a fist. "She gets up without a single scratch and I'm out of it for 24 hours crying and sweating? I don't understand it."

"You think it's more complicated than a simple barrier?" Wesley asked in a hushed tone, watching Angel urgently.

"I- don't know," Angel said honestly, closing his eyes again. "God, my head is killing me."

"Perhaps you should try to get back to sleep," Wesley suggested, but Angel shook his head and pushed himself over to the edge of the bed.

"I've been sleeping for 24 hours, Wes," he said tiredly, standing up. "I'm good. I'm gonna take a shower and then I'll come help you guys out, okay?"

"Alright," Wesley said hesitantly. "Are you sure you don't need me to-"

"Wesley, I'm 250 years old," Angel laughed. "I can take a shower by myself." The two men stared at each other. "Geez, that came out wrong. Go upstairs, Wesley."

Wesley obeyed. Angel slumped against the wall, almost too exhausted to move.

_What the hell is going on? _He thought, feeling a weird wave of spasms run through his body. This wasn't just post-car crash repercussions; there was something messing with him here. He knew who did it and why, but hell, what he wouldn't give to find out _how._

* * *

"_How_?" Glory screamed, stamping her foot, which shook the whole room. "How can you not have my Key yet? I've given you loads of time!"

"It's been less than three days," Lindsey snarled, done playing nice with this woman. Or god. Or whatever the hell she was. "We'll know soon enough."

Glory crossed her arms. "I _thought _you were going to have my Key. You got your Item 11 and everything."

"That wasn't to locate the Key," Lindsey snapped. "That was just to prevent it from leaving the city. And it worked. It hasn't left. But we'll know soon enough. Now get the hell out of my office."

"Make me," Glory sneered, and Lindsey raised an eyebrow.

"Fine," he said smoothly, and reached under his desk, producing a translucent orb just larger than a baseball. What set this orb apart was the thin gold letters etched into the surface of the glass, in some ancient alphabet. Glory's eyes widened.

"W- where'd you get that?" she spat nervously, taking a step back.

"Never you mind." Lindsey's expression was calm. "Now, I can use this, or you can get the hell out of my office."

Glory froze in what appeared to be genuine terror for a moment, and then started to laugh. Lindsey was unperturbed, but Glory stooped over, her maniacal cackle filling the room.

"You're bluffing," she leered, straightening up. "You're so _cute, _Lindsey, you little teeny-tiny lawyer trying to pretend that you can-"

Lindsey roared a phrase in Latin and Glory went pale as the orb flashed black and shot out a ray of purple energy at her. She shrieked, and there was a considerable lights show as Glory writhed and screamed and then fell to the ground. Lindsey stood up taller, feeling the energy run through him.

"Thank you, senior partners," he muttered, and then pressed the intercom button on his desk. "I need security up here stat," he said commandingly. "Hell bitch is down and disarmed. We need her locked up before she comes to." He fell back into his chair and threw his feet up onto the desk. So what if he'd skipped a couple steps of the plan? The god was now a powerless woman (for the time being, that was) and even better, he didn't have to put up with her obnoxious ramblings any longer. He was positive he could identify the Key within the day, and then the sucker was all his.

Well, theirs. But that was a technicality.

* * *

"This is it!" Cordelia stabbed the page triumphantly and Wesley rushed over to her side. Angel waved a hand, as it was too much effort to go to the other end of the room in his still weakened state.

"The Kaberjion Shield," she read. "It's typically used as, well, a shield, but our lawyer besties have a way of thinking outside the box and turned it backwards and boom, insta-barrier."

"What makes you think that's the one?" Angel asked, cringing upon hearing how weak his own voice was.

"I have my reasons," Cordelia said primly, and then giggled upon seeing the dark expression on Angel's face. "You know, I wouldn't do that if your face wasn't so funny when I do." Her face sobered. "No, but listen. It says that the shield is constructed from magical electrons that are toxic to the human body. Does a number on your system."

"I'm not human," Angel reminded her.

"But you have a human _body," _Cordelia pointed out. "Human form. As long as your cells are in the same order, the voodoo works."

"Okay, what about me?" Dawn spoke up, and they all turned quickly, remembering she was there. "I have a human body."

"Uh, it says that if there is a sufficient amount of contrasting energy surrounding any one individual, the electrons will prove ineffective to said individual," Cordelia read. "Apparently people have been able to get away with it without getting hurt using other electro-shields and what not."

"Contrasting energy," Wesley murmured. "That would mean the Key, then?"

"That would make sense," Angel said finally. "They wouldn't want to hurt the Key."

"Right." Wesley nodded. "You bled a good deal, and the blood of the Key is crucial to the ritual."

"Right," Dawn said bitterly, and looked down. "There's a price on every one of my blood cells, right? Hey, do you think if I drew my own blood I could sell it on the black magic markets?"

"Dawn-" Wesley began mildly, rushing to the girl's side, but Angel held up a hand.

"Don't, Wes," he said loudly, and Wesley stopped. "Dawn, I know how you must be feeling."

"No, you don't," Dawn said flatly, crossing her arms.

He mulled it over. "Fair enough," he said evenly. "I don't. But we are trying our damn best to sort this out, and your attitude isn't helping."

Dawn shook her head in disbelief. "Do you hear this, guys?" she said to Cordelia and Wesley, raising her voice considerably. "The king of brooding and self-imposed misery is knocking me on my _attitude." _She narrowed her eyes and stepped in front of Angel.

"This isn't about me," he said in the calmest voice he could muster, but she was on a roll.

"You can_not _talk about attitude problems, dude. Anyone who's spoken to you for two seconds knows that you have that doom-and-gloom, I'm-too-good-for-happiness thing going." Angel stared at her, feeling bewildered. "You broke my sister's heart with it, you son of a-"

"Shut up!" Angel bellowed, rising to his feet at once. Dawn instantly froze in terror and her eyes filled with tears, but she had crossed the line.

"You did not have to bring her into this," he shouted at the small girl, who was shrinking back. "This has nothing to do with her. This is about you, okay? About how you haven't done a single thing that wasn't selfish and stupid since you walked into this city!"

"I came to you because I trusted you!" Dawn shrieked, hysterical. "I thought you were different." She sniffed. "I thought you actually cared about me."

Angel opened his mouth to shout back and then, catching a glimpse of Cordelia and Wesley's aghast expressions, came to his senses. Still angry, he backed down a bit.

"You know why I don't act happy? Because I'm not," he said in a low voice. "Because I have _killed, _Dawn." His voice broke. "I have killed so many people- my own kid sister, even. I'm a monster, and it haunts me every day of my life." A tear spilled onto her cheek and he closed his eyes quickly. "And it's all I can do to try to redeem myself by helping people like you."

He opened his eyes again and saw exactly what was in front of him- not an enemy, not Buffy, not a Key.

Just a child.

And she was crying because of him.

"Dawn," he murmured, and stepped forward to put his arms around her, but she staggered backwards, her eyes filled with hate and revulsion. He backed up, his face growing hot.

"I'm sorry," he said lamely, but Dawn's face had already hardened with anger.

"I thought you were different," she whispered. She still looked angry, but her trembling voice belied her. "But you're not. You're exactly the same as the rest of them."

"Vampires?" Cordelia asked unhelpfully, and Wesley nudged her.

"People," Dawn said quietly, starting to tremble. "You're exactly like the rest of them. Selfish and cruel and untrustworthy." Angel tried to think of something to say to smooth it over, but he was lost for words. "And it's just because of my frickin' daddy issues that I thought you were any different." She turned on her heel and fled from the room, letting out a final sob.

"Dawn," Angel called after her, pleadingly, but she didn't stop. Gutted, he sunk his head into his hands and closed his eyes.

"Are you alright, Angel?" Cordelia asked tentatively, and he whipped up angrily.

"Dammit, Cordelia, could you ask a stupider question?" he shouted, ready to let her have it too, and then stopped himself. _You already lost it at one person who loves you. Don't do it again. _He sighed and bent his head to his knees, and he heard footsteps and then felt Wesley's hand on his back. He felt his face heat up as he resisted the urge to cry.

"I- I don't know what's wrong with me," he said hollowly, and looked up. To his mortification, he could feel the moisture gathering in his eyes. "I'm- I'm terrified, you guys, and I don't even know why."

"Well, we are dealing with a Hell-god," Cordelia said, moving over to Angel's chair and bending down beside him. "And you've got some seriously bad mojo in your system right now."

"It's not even that," he said shakily, feeling the involuntary tremble overtake him again. Wesley's arm tightened over his back, and that calmed the shaking a bit. He took a breath and looked up at them sincerely. "Ever since she got here, it's been-" he shook his head and exhaled, not able to come up with a sufficient word. "Blast from the past, you know? And it's kind of killing me. Which is stupid, because she's just a kid and she's _not _Buffy, but-"

"Hey." Cordelia grabbed his hands with both of hers and smiled up at him. "It's understandable, Angel. And it's _okay. _We're family, remember?" She squeezed his hand and he smiled weakly. "We take you for what you are right now, and where you're at, and we get what that means." She glanced at the doorway. "You need to apologize to her, though. It'll make us all feel better."

"Yeah." Angel stood up and took a step towards the next room. "God, this is so messed up."

"Did you mean the part where you lost your temper at a middle-schooler or this whole thing in general?" Cordelia asked, instantly snapping back to herself.

"Everything," Angel muttered, stepping through the doorway. "Dawn, can we talk?"

No answer. He took a look around the room and felt sick as he realized she wasn't there.

"Dear lord," Wesley murmured, as he and Cordelia came up on either side of Angel.

"She split," Cordelia stated, sounding awed, and glanced at Angel. "Y'know, seeing as there's a law firm and a hell goddess after her and all-"

"She can't have gotten far." Angel grabbed his coat.

"Wait!" Wesley grabbed his arm. "You're not going by yourself. Not like this."

"I can stand. I can beat the crap out of anyone who tries to touch her. I'm good." He slipped his arms into the sleeves and made a move for the door.

"That's not what I meant." He grabbed his own coat and stood between Angel and the door. "Well, in part- you look like _death, _Angel. And you're emotional." Angel glared at him. "Don't try to deny it. You're not thinking straight." Angel's stormy expression deepened, but this didn't break Wesley's resolve. "Cordelia and I will look. Given she doesn't wander straight to the Wolfram and Hart headquarters, Dawn shouldn't be in any more danger than she-"

"Can it." Angel pushed him aside and kicked the door open, his head still reeling somewhat. "You can come with me, but I ain't staying here. I can't." He exhaled, harassed, and glanced at Cordelia. "Cor, you stay in case she comes back." She bit her lip and nodded resignedly.

"Angel-" Wesley argued, and Angel gave him a cold stare. Wesley stopped talking and looked down, defeated.

"Don't try to change my mind. Glory and the law firm aren't the only ones looking for her. You coming or not?" He stormed through the door and Wesley stood there for a moment and then ran after him.

* * *

Dawn sniffed and hugged herself. She was an idiot for staying here in the first place. She should've made a dash for it as soon as she remembered that Angel and his crack staff were in town.

_They're all exactly the same, _she thought resentfully. _They say they care about me, but they just care about helping me for their own sakes. At the end of the day, all anyone ever cares about is saving their own butts. _

Maybe it was supposed to be that way. It was probably better that way. Losing your trust in people entirely was better than having it pieced back together again and again only to be shattered.

She wasn't going anywhere, of course. She didn't have any money, and she couldn't leave town. She just wanted to go missing long enough to make Angel feel bad for being a brooding jerk.

She took a look around the streets of L.A. It was dark and there were so many places where someone or something could jump out at her, but she wasn't scared. Maybe just a little bit, but not that much.

She heard a noise behind her and jumped. She started walking faster. And then a sense of fear overwhelmed her, as her throat went dry and her heart began to pound. So she started to run.

_Oh my god, I'm going to die out here, _she thought desperately, her feet slamming against the pavement, and then she slammed into something.

She glanced up and saw a woman in her late twenties with blonde hair and dark clothing. "Sorry," she muttered, trying to step around her.

"Hold up," the woman said, and grabbed Dawn's shoulder. "What are you doing out here?"

Dawn stared at her, and then glared. "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers," she said haughtily, and tried to step away again. The woman reached into her jacket and produced a shiny police badge.

"LAPD, honey." She smiled a thin smile, and Dawn felt a lump in her throat. _Police. _"If you're not up to no good out here, then you're probably in danger. So why don't you tell me your name and your phone number and I'll just-" she pulled her cellphone and had flipped it open when she stopped, recognition washing over her. Her eyes widened and then narrowed. "Hang on. You're the Amber Alert from Sunnydale, aren't you?"

"No," Dawn said unconvincingly, and tried to wriggle out of the detective's grasp, but her grip only tightened.

"I can't let you go, okay? You're going to come back to the department with me and we're going to call your parents."

"Get away from me!" Dawn shrieked. She punched the woman in the jaw and tried to run away, only to trip on the sidewalk a few feet away. Her face smashed against the cement and she could taste her own blood.

"Talk to me." The police woman had bent down beside Dawn, smiling unconvincingly through her blonde hair. "Are you in any danger right now? Is there anyone looking for you?"

"Beside your buddies?" Dawn spat, standing up abruptly. The woman's jaw hardened.

"You know what I mean. Is anyone after you?"

Dawn looked around quickly for a way out of this situation. She wasn't that far away from the office; Angel had to be looking for her by now. Then again, the fact that a mysterious twenty-something man without a last name had been keeping a middle-schooler in his abandoned hotel for the past two days probably wouldn't sit well with the police. She couldn't just wait for Angel to catch up.

"What?" She asked the woman distantly, having forgotten what she said.

"I said, is anyone after you?"

"Yeah," Dawn admitted, crossing her arms.

"Who?" The woman raised a blonde eyebrow.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Dawn said harshly.

"Try me," the woman answered testily.

"I-" Dawn looked around and felt tears of panic begin to come to her eyes. Maybe it would be a good thing for Angel to show up right about now. "There's an evil law firm trying to find me and kill me, okay?" She blurted without thinking.

The woman stared at her and Dawn felt her heart pounding. "I- I mean-" she gasped, and glanced around quickly like a trapped animal. She looked at the woman again and to her surprise, her face had softened a bit.

"Hang on," she said quietly. "I think I know what you're talking about. Can you please come back to the police department with me?"

_No, _a voice in Dawn's head screamed at her. She opened her mouth. The woman raised an eyebrow again.

"Okay," Dawn said weakly, and as the woman nodded and started towards a police car parked a few yards down the sidewalk, Dawn's head screamed at her again. _This is your chance! Make a run for it now!_

Instead, she followed the woman down the sidewalk. What choice did she have?


	7. Chapter Seven

"God, Lindsey, you are _such_ an idiot!" Lilah actually stamped her foot in exasperation. "What's the point in having a damn plan if you won't even follow it?"

"I am following the plan just fine," Lindsey said smugly, leaning back in his chair. "It's just not your plan." Lilah's eyes narrowed. "The woman was getting on my nerves, okay?"

"She's a _god," _Lilah said tersely.

"And now-" Lindsey stood up suddenly and slammed his hand against the wall. A large crack ran rapidly both up and down the wall. "-she's just a woman."

"But for how long, exactly?" Lilah gave Lindsey a scathing look. "We've _never _called on power like that before. That orb you used is thousands of years old. We don't know if it's even fully potent anymore. That's why _waiting _was part of the plan. But you, you can't wait for anything."

"Oh, come on, Lilah," Lindsey scoffed. "You think a powerful object straight from the demon dimensions has an expiration date?" He picked up the orb and tossed it from hand to hand for a second, and then put it back down. "This baby worked just fine. I can feel it."

"But we _know _the effects won't be permanent," Lilah reminded him. "You're a lower being."

Lindsey scoffed. "So are you. And besides," he said airily, beginning to pace around the desk, "we gotta work fast at any rate. Our window to use the Key is going to run out sooner than we think."

"Even so." Lilah stood up and folded her arms, eyes narrowed. "We're supposed to be _equals, _Lindsey. We're in this together. And then you went and got impatient and stole all the damn power for yourself! If you keep demonstrating this level of pure stupidity, I'll-"

"You'll what? Get me fired?" Lindsey shrugged. "Go ahead. Right now, I got all the power I need." Lilah's eyes narrowed. "Now, are you gonna keep arguing with me, or are you going to go look for the damn Key?"

"_Everyone's _looking for the Key," Lilah snapped. "We have every department on it. We just haven't found it yet."

Lindsey leaned against the wall. "We know the Key has human form. We're looking for a person. Start there."

"We _have _started." Lilah came around the desk and stood up straight, glaring right in his face. "Do you know how many people are in this city?"

"9.7 million," Lindsey said calmly. "But you know what? Most of those people have been here quite a while. Until two days ago when our little Hell-god friend showed up, the Key was in Sunnydale. So you can narrow it down to new arrivals. Check hotels, apartments, under bridges-"

"God, Lindsey, you think we haven't thought of that yet?" She slammed her fist on the desk angrily. "I know you think you're hot stuff and all with your stolen powers, but I am your _co_-Vice President of Special Projects and I demand that you listen to me for two damn seconds." She took a step back, and Lindsey raised his head to look at her. She took a breath.

"I shouldn't have to remind you that we're both on borrowed time here," she said in a deadly whisper. "Nobody needs two co-Vice Presidents of Special Projects. That's all show. We _know _they're going to kill one of us eventually, it's just a matter of when and _who." _She backed away from him, her blue eyes like ice. Lindsey held her gaze, eyes narrowed. "Make no mistake, Mcdonald. If you keep disregarding the plan like this, I _will _make sure there are consequences."

"How?" Lindsey leered at her. "You're just as much of a puppet as I am. You know that."

Lilah tilted her head and smiled unnervingly. "True. Regrettably, I am in no position to get you fired or killed. Directly." She began a slow pace around his desk, mulling it over. "But, you know how much our coworkers love a good rumor. And you do remember what happened to the last coworker whose reputation was a little damaged by gossip from the ladies."

"He was decapitated." Lindsey kept his voice fully devoid of emotion.

"And yet you don't sound concerned." Lilah sat on the edge of his desk. Lindsey smirked and slowly walked back over to his desk, sitting back down in his chair.

"You forget that I'm not afraid of death, Lilah," he said evenly, and kicked against the wall, spinning his chair all the way around. "Be a doll and leave my office, will you?"

Lilah stood up, seething. "The next time you tell me to be a doll, I _will_ slap you."

"You wouldn't." Lindsey turned his chair around again, this time stopping when his back was to the door.

"I damn well would." He heard retreating footsteps and then a slam of the door.

* * *

The door opened again. Dawn glanced up and glared when she saw Detective Lockley.

"How much longer are you going to keep me here?" she asked coldly. "I've been here all night. It's after five in the morning. If you aren't gonna call my family, why don't you just-"

"Your family isn't answering their phone," Kate said indifferently, taking a seat opposite Dawn. "We sent a team of officers to get them."

"What?" Dawn looked up wildly, her heart suddenly pounding. Mom was going to freak. And she didn't even want to think about Buffy. "Why would you do that?"

Kate gave her a bored look. "Your family isn't answering their phone," she repeated flatly. "Listen, I'm gonna give you one more chance. I brought you in here because you mentioned something about Wolfram and Hart, but if you're not going to tell me how or why they're after you-"

"It's complicated," Dawn retorted.

"It's always complicated," Kate snapped.

Dawn felt tears of frustration come to her eyes. "You wouldn't understand," she snapped. "You're just a cop."

"Well, we're all you've got," Kate responded curtly. "It's not like you have some other savior who can fight these things for you."

Dawn crossed her arms and glared at Kate. "My sister could kick your ass in a second," she said angrily. "She knows all of this stuff- vampires, demons –better than anyone else."

"Is that so?" Kate said absently.

"Yeah," Dawn said haughtily. "She even dated a vampire once."

Kate looked up sharply and Dawn felt a pit in her stomach. "Your sister dated a vampire?"

"Uh- no," Dawn said quickly, and her shoulders tensed. "I- I meant- umpire. She dated an umpire. And you know, you have to be really tough to date an-"

Kate held up a hand, eyes narrowed. "What's his name?"

"W-whose name?" Dawn asked, biting her lip.

"Don't be stupid." Kate stood up and came around the side of the table to look the girl square in the face. "The vampire your sister dated. Who was he?"

"What's it to you?" Dawn responded, hugging herself tightly.

Kate stared at her in exasperation for a moment and then sat down, shaking her head in awe. "Your sister's the vampire slayer." Dawn was silent, but her face gave her away. Kate slammed her fist against the table. "I knew it. I _knew _he was involved in this somehow. He always is."

"Who?" Dawn asked in a high-pitched voice, and Kate stood up again suddenly and marched over to the file cabinet in the corner. She yanked open the top drawer and ran her fingers through a row of manila files and snatched one out, back to the table in an instant. Watching her, Dawn slowly sat back down in her chair, feeling a sense of dread come over her. Kate opened the file and produced a picture, practically shoving it in Dawn's face.

"This man. Look familiar?" she asked, and there was no mistaking it. The photograph was blurry, and the man in in was wearing a ridiculous Hawaiian shirt, but it was definitely Angel. Dawn felt all the blood drain from her face. It must've shown, because Kate instantly snatched the file up from the table, a smug expression coming to her face.

"Oh, he is gonna get it now," she said, grabbing her jacket. "Kidnapping- no way he's gonna get away from this one."

"Angel didn't kidnap me," Dawn squeaked, and Kate shook her head, striding over to the door.

"He did, honey. Trust me. He did." She shook her head, still somewhat in awe from her discovery. "I can_not _wait to bust him for this." She opened the door. "Wilkins!" She shouted, and a young man in uniform came to the door. "Keep on eye on the kid. I just made a breakthrough in this case."

"I'm not a case," Dawn shouted lamely, and the door slammed shut. She bit her lip and looked at the young officer, who was slight-shouldered and barely taller than Dawn herself.

"I need to pee," she tried, and he gave her a withering expression.

"Nice try, kid. We're not supposed to let you out of our sight for any reason."

"Not even to use the ladies' room?" She tried, crossing her legs for effect. "You police people are real sticklers."

The officer glared at her. "You wanna try and make a run for it, kid? Go ahead. You wouldn't make it two feet. Everyone in this building knows what you look like."

She sighed and slumped against the table, feeling exhaustion finally set in on her. The past two days had been sleepless and downright confusing. Why had she wanted to stay here so badly, anyway? It was just as difficult as life back home. But at least here, people told her things. She didn't have a life here, so they couldn't hide anything from her. At home, there was school and family life and everything going on with the Scoobies, and they could hide the real facts behind all of that. But she came to Angel _for _the facts, and he knew that. He couldn't hide the facts from her.

Dawn closed her eyes, realizing for the first time since she left that she actually missed her family. Most of all, her sister. She didn't know much about what was going on and who was after her, but she knew she was scared. And even though she ran away from her sister in the first place, god, she wished Buffy were here now. She needed someone who could comfort her _and _protect her from everyone who was trying to kill her. Then again, that's exactly what Angel had been doing, hadn't it? And she ran away from him too.

And all at once, it hit her. She hated people treating her like a child, but she was _acting _like a child. Buffy made her mad, so she ran off. Angel made her mad, so she ran from him too. But they were just trying to protect her. She hadn't lasted 10 minutes without one of them. She needed to go back and apologize. She needed to cooperate and help Angel and everyone figure this stuff out, or at the very least, stay out of the way so they could concentrate. She needed to make things right.

And in order to make things right, she was about to do something very wrong. Or at least, pretty wrong. But that never stopped Buffy or Angel, did it?

"Did you hear that?" she said quickly, not having to work hard to make her voice sound nervous.

"What?" The officer glanced at her.

"I thought I heard something." She shifted and bit her lip. "By the window."

"I didn't hear anything," he answered.

"I definitely heard something," she pressed, and made eye contact, trying to look especially helpless and innocent. "Could you check? Please?"

For a second the officer looked like he might argue with her, and then he rolled his eyes and stood up. "Sure, kid." He watched Dawn warily as he walked around the table to the window. "Don't try anything." She beamed at him winningly and he slowly turned around and opened the window. "Doesn't look like anything."

"Are you sure?" Dawn wheedled, sticking her lip out like she might cry.

He poked his head out of the window a bit. "Nope. There's nothing-"

But Dawn had wasted no time in standing up. In one motion, she picked up the metal chair and smashed it against the officer's head, bringing him down to the ground.

"What the hell?" he snapped, pulling himself up onto one arm, and Dawn's heart seized unpleasantly. Usually when Buffy did it, it only took her one swing. Slayer strength really made things easier.

"Sorry," Dawn squeaked, and shoved the whole table over onto his him, and his eyes fell closed this time. Suddenly terrified, she scrambled to the window and swung both of her legs out, pushing herself out onto the thin ledge. Geez, it was a long way down.

* * *

"Thanks." Angel slammed the phone down onto the receiver and exhaled.

"Well?" Wesley looked at him expectantly.

Angel sunk his head into his hands. "They got her. The- the police, they got her."

"Typical," Cordelia murmured, patting Angel on the shoulder as she passed by and handing him a steaming cup of coffee. "So what do we do now?"

"I- I don't know." Angel sipped the coffee wearily. "We wait, I guess. For the police to arrest me. And for Buffy to show up and kill me."

"That sucks," Cordelia muttered.

"God, Cordelia, state the obvious again, will you?" Angel exploded, and stood up, the coffee cup spilling down his shirt and then crashing to the floor. Cordelia stood up, eyes sparking defiantly.

"Well, I thought you might need the hand-holding," she said angrily, folding her arms. "Ever since mini-Buffy showed up you've been all manic-depressive ticking-time-bomb guy and you won't even talk about it! We _care _about you, Angel, but yelling at us doesn't fix anything."

"She's right." Wesley stood up and stepped between the two. "Angel, you- have a tendency to become aggressive whenever you're upset, and that's not fair to us."

"Hey, can we save the therapy session for later?" Angel said irritably, stepping out of the mess of coffee and mug fragments. "I appreciate the concern, okay, but Dawn could be anywhere, and I can't look for her because it's morning, and we've got to go-"

"You're not going anywhere," a voice interrupted from behind them, echoing in the spacious lobby. Angel turned around and stopped, staring down the barrel of Kate Lockley's gun.

"Oh, for god's sake," he muttered, and Cordelia and Wesley turned around slowly, looks of confusion and mild terror creeping onto their faces.

"Kate," Cordelia said, pinning a fixed smile onto her face. "Long time no see. You know, the gun isn't strictly necessary- you _could _just say hi."

"Face the wall and put your hands on your head," Kate said as though she hadn't spoken. "_All _of you."

Wesley and Cordelia turned around slowly, but Angel didn't move. "You do remember that that thing won't work on me, right?" he said coolly, bracing himself.

"I'm not here to kill you," she said woodenly. "I just want to arrest you. And then kill you."

"Oh, great," Cordelia muttered, but Wesley turned around.

"What for?" he asked boldly. "You haven't got a warrant." Cordelia shot him a look over her shoulder. "Er, have you?"

"You got a point, English. I don't have one." Kate holstered her gun and the three relaxed, and Cordelia turned back around. "So maybe I should just kill your boss right here." She pulled a stake out from inside her jacket and Angel tensed, raising his hands. "I just thought locking him in a cell with eastern exposure would be more fun."

"Kate, what is this?" Angel demanded as Kate took a step forward, holding a cross in front of her with one hand and pointing the stake with the other. "Are- are you okay?" He reached out a hand to touch her and she shoved the stake at him.

"Cut the crap, vampire." She stepped back, still holding her weapons straight in front of her.

"What do you want?" he asked, gritting his teeth.

"First I want to know why you kidnapped Dawn Summers," she said, her tone hard and emotionless. "Then I want you to tell me why the hell no-one can get out of this city."

"Kidnapped- Dawn-" Angel closed his eyes, trying to process everything. "Okay, first, I did _not _kidnap her."

"That's what she said. I don't believe it." Kate stepped closer, backing him into a corner. "Let's try that again." She held up the cross to his face. "Why did you kidnap Dawn Summers?"

"I _didn't!" _Angel shoved her off and dashed from the corner. Kate whipped back up, her eyes gleaming with fury, and Wesley and Cordelia watched on in horror.

"Dawn came here," Angel spat, breathing hard. "She ran away. We found her on the streets- there was a vampire attacking her –and naturally we took her back here."

"But you sheltered her for three days. A responsible adult would've called her parents right away." Kate crossed her arms.

"She didn't want to go home," Angel snapped.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Right, and you're always supposed to do what the child wants no matter what."

"We couldn't make her," Angel answered, leaning against the wall.

"She weighs like 80 pounds," Kate retorted. "You could've."

Angel glared at her. "Okay, well, I _didn't _take her back right away, and that segways into your other item of business. I tried to take her back a couple days ago, and we hit the barrier. Far as we can tell, it's running around the entire perimeter of the city." He walked past her and sat on the couch, and waved for her to sit down. She stiffened and glared. Angel shook his head wearily. "But I take it you knew that already?"

Kate nodded in confirmation. "We've been trying to get a hold of the Summers family since we found Dawn last night. They weren't answering their phone, so we sent a couple of officers to go tell them in person. Before I left the department just now, I got word that they didn't make it past the edge of the city. Car's just obliterated."

"Same thing happened to us." Angel ran a hand through his hair. "It's Wolfram and Hart's doing."

"Of course it is." Kate shook her head in disbelief. "Damn, they're behind everything, aren't they?"

"Pretty much." Angel nodded. Kate lowered the cross.

"I think maybe I can let it slide, since she left home on her own and she's not hurt. But if something comes up- like, if she's inexplicably emotionally scarred or turns up pregnant or something –I'm _serious," _she added when Angel gave her a revolted look. "Seriously. If something happens, your ass will be the first one on the line. But I mean, we got her now."

"Thanks," Angel said, and Kate nodded, about to go when her radio crackled.

"Amber Alert escaped. Repeat, our Amber Alert child is gone. Signs of forced exit. Officer on watch is unconscious." Kate closed her eyes in a mixture of exasperation and weariness.

"You've got her alright," Cordelia muttered dryly. Angel leapt up from his seat.

"What the hell?! Did you leave her alone?" he demanded.

"Of course not. What kind of an idiot do you think I am?" Kate snapped. "I left her with an officer. You heard. She knocked him out. I guess that vampire slayer stuff runs in the family, huh?" No-one said anything as she ran to the door, and then turned around again. "Call me if she comes to you. If you don't, I actually will stake you." She let the door swing behind her, leaving Angel, Wesley, and Cordelia all stunned.

"How on earth does a 14-year-old girl knock out a full-grown man?" Wesley murmured.

"She's been watching big sister's moves, I guess," Cordelia commented, but both of them were watching Angel carefully, who was pacing across the room at about twice his usual speed, his feet hitting the ground forcefully.

"Therapy session now?" Cordelia asked cautiously, and Angel slumped against a pillar.

"I have to do _something. _I can't just sit around," he said angrily.

"I'm afraid all we can do _is _sit around," Wesley said gently, coming up next to Angel. "The sun will be up any minute now. You can't go after her. She's probably coming straight to us."

"But I _can't." _Angel started pacing again. "I have to do _some_thing. This mess is all my fault."

"That isn't true," Wesley interjected, but Angel wasn't listening.

"I'm gonna go to them. Wolfram and Hart." Cordelia and Wesley looked at him sharply. "Yeah. I'm gonna go beat the crap out of Lindsey until he tells me how to break that barrier thing so we can get Dawn the hell out of here." He grabbed his coat and made for the door.

"I thought you were over the whole bursting-into-flame thing," Cordelia commented.

"It's still dark enough," Angel replied. "I can make it to the sewer. Call me if Dawn shows up," and he slammed the door behind him. Wesley and Cordelia glanced at each other anxiously.

"Well, turn on your phone, then!" Cordelia shouted after him.


	8. Chapter Eight

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm back. Hope you like the way the story's shaping up. If anyone has suggestions, I would love to hear them. Also, apparently likes eating my line breaks, so in some places I've just had to use a row of asterisks. If you see anywhere in any chapter where it's obvious that there's a line break but there's not one, please let me know. As always, please review!**

* * *

Dawn closed her eyes, her stomach turning violently. She inched her foot forward another step and stopped, her head reeling. The five stories beneath her seemed to sway violently as she looked down. She just needed to make it to the fire exit, and that would be slightly less terrifying and life-threatening.

_Don't look down, don't look down,_ she thought, and then, _why do people always say that? It just makes you want to look down more._

The wind blew straight through her, and she felt tears spring to her eyes involuntarily. _Why did I run away again? And why didn't I just take the stairs?_

She took a breath, thinking about what Buffy would do. Buffy got scared too. She was only human, and barely twenty. Plenty of things scared her. But she always took care of the situation, no matter what it was.

Dawn stumbled forward a few feet and wobbled violently, grabbing onto a drainpipe to regain her balance. She closed her eyes again and dug out a memory from the back of her mind. _It's not even real, _a nagging little voice in her head, but she ignored it. Fake or no, these memories of her sister were all she had right now.

**August 1998, Spain**

_Dawn and Buffy Summers were on vacation in Spain with their father. Hank left them alone in the hotel room one night to go drinking with friends, and that turned out to be the night their hotel room caught on fire._

_Buffy crawled through the seventh-story window without hesitation, whereas Dawn stood in place, paralyzed with fear._

_"Dawn, c'mon," Buffy said urgently, but her little sister didn't move. "Dawn! We gotta go."_

_"I don't like heights," the 11-year-old girl uttered finally. Buffy sighed in an equal expression of desperation and exasperation._

_"And I don't like fire," she answered. "I think falling to your death would be better than burning slowly anyway." Dawn's eyes widened in horror. "Okay, forget I said that. C'mon, Dawnie. There's a fire escape." Dawn slowly took a step towards the window. Buffy smiled and held out her arms. "There we go. C'mon." She lifted her tiny sister through the window and onto the thin ledge. Dawn stiffened in fear, hugging the side._

_"It's okay," Buffy said encouragingly. "Look. The fire escape's only about six feet away. Only one dad-length away. Just hold my hand and walk slowly."_

_"I don't wanna," Dawn whispered hoarsely. Buffy sighed and grabbed her sister's hand._

_"Dawn, you have to trust me," she said gently. "It's the only way. Let me guide you. I will never let you get hurt. Trust me."_

_"I will never let you get hurt."_

Dawn took another shaky breath, pretending her sister was just in front of her on the ledge. She reached her hand forward onto the decorative molding on the side of the building, pretending she was holding her sister's hand. She took small, tentative steps, pretending Buffy was right there, guiding her. She counted the inches as she stepped forward, whispering the numbers to herself.

She was almost there. Two more feet and then-

"There she is!" She heard shouting and a pounding of footsteps above her and looked up in horror to see an armada of uniformed men coming towards her. Without thinking, she grabbed the drainpipe right next to her and put both hands on it, sliding down slowly with her feet against the wall.

She managed to scramble down to the next level, but she couldn't stop. She consulted Buffy in her head again. When Buffy got caught off-guard in a fight, she was resourceful. She used her surroundings to her advantage. She looked around at the building through Buffy's eyes.

There was a statue of a lion beneath her. She swung her feet down onto its side and grabbed the edge of the building with her hands, gaining confidence. She climbed down the side of the lion and held her breath. Only one more level to go.

There was a blue-and-white striped awning beneath her. If she could somehow figure out how to grab the sides of it and swing down onto the ground-

But there was no time. The police were gaining on her. So instead, she jumped.

*****  
"Vampire in the building," a voice said on the pager. Lindsey turned around in his chair and picked it up.

"Bring him to me. Alive," he added, and dropped the thing down again. Geez, this never stopped.

"Vamp visitors now, huh?" Lindsey glanced up and saw Lilah standing in the doorway. He rolled his eyes.

"I figured he would come here after a while," Lindsey said calmly. "The whole barrier thing wouldn't set well with a hero type like him. He's probably got a hundred clients paying him to figure it out."

"Huh." Lilah stepped forward slowly, her face unnervingly void of emotion. "Lindsey, I don't feel like you have your head in the game anymore."

"And why's that?" Lindsey asked coolly.

Lilah shot forward and slammed a fist onto his desk. "Because you're being an idiot," she snapped, and took a step back. He folded his arms and glared at her.

"I thought we went over this last night," he replied, and dropped into a falsetto. "_Lindsey, you're going to get us both killed! Stop being an idiot, Lindsey. You're not following the plan."_

Lilah's jaw hardened in anger. "Continue suggesting that I sound like that, Mcdonald, and I'll-"

"A_gain _with the death threats!" Lindsey stood upright suddenly, shaking his desk a little. "Lilah, threats only work if you follow through. So why don't you cut to the chase and tell me all about your recent Lindsey-is-an-idiot epiphany."

"This isn't about _you," _Lilah snapped. "Believe it or not, I actually came here to help you. To help the plan _we're _supposed to be working on. You're an idiot for not thinking of this already, but-"

"Yes?" Lindsey said expectantly.

Lilah walked slowly towards the wall, shaking her head. "Lindsey, this whole time the perfect solution for finding the Key has been right under our noses! It'll be quick, it'll be easy, _and _if we feel like it, it'll help us get our favorite undead private eye out of the way."

Lindsey looked at her sharply. "Continue."

Lilah rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't tell me I have to hand-feed this to you. We know that the Key is a person, one who's probably scared for their lives and would be looking for someone to help them out." Lindsey's eyes widened in understanding. "Wouldn't it be nice if we knew someone who made a living off of 'helping the helpless'?"

Lindsey broke into a grin, but before he could say anything the door swung open and Angel stomped in, his black coat swishing. Lindsey stood up and came around the side of his desk.

"The devil himself," he said loudly, still not able to his elation from Lilah's suggestion.

"You were talking about me?" Angel raised an eyebrow and then lunged forward, clenching a hand around Lindsey's neck. "Aw, should I be worried? I really hate gossip." He tightened his grip. "Tell me. How do we break your stupid barrier and get the hell out of this city?"

Lindsey laughed, a strangled laugh though it was, and suddenly shoved Angel off of him and to the ground. Angel instantly stood up, looking both mildly surprised and confused.

"Has someone been working out?" he asked with what little momentum he had left, and made a lunge for the other man again, but Lindsey was faster this time. He grabbed Angel by the neck and held him above the ground with a single hand. Angel's eyes widened in shock and he struggled, trying to get away, but Lindsey only clenched his hand harder. Angel's eyes threatened to pop out and Lindsey laughed.

"Don't give me that. We all know you don't need to breathe." Lindsey tossed him to the ground, and Angel's body skidded all the way across the floor, slamming against the wall and sending a crack up and down it to match the other one. Lilah glanced at Lindsey, impressed, and walked up to his side. "Shoulda read the rulebook before you came, vampire. Rules change a lot."

Angel staggered to his feet, eyes narrowed. "You're strong. How?"

Lindsey swaggered forward. "I don't know. As you said, I've been working out."

"Cut the crap, lawyer," Angel snarled, springing forward to hit him out of habit, and then stopped. A grin crept onto Lindsey's face.

"Why would we ever tell you?" he asked smugly. "There are some things you just have to go without knowing."

Angel leaned back against the wall. "You stole the hell god's powers." Lindsey scowled. "Nice. I guess I don't give you enough credit for being a complete idiot." Lilah snickered and both men glared at her. "It's not going to last."

"Listen." Lindsey stepped forward, an ugly expression on his face. "Since I'm the one with the upper hand here, how about you shut up and tell me what you want with this barrier? I thought you liked it here."

Angel froze for a moment, and then glared. "Surprisingly, I don't feel compelled to share."

Lindsey sneered. "Then surprisingly, I feel compelled to kill you." He whipped a stake out of his coat pocket. Angel raised an arm to deflect his attack, but Lindsey slammed him against the wall, pinning him to it with one hand and holding the stake over his heart.

"Where's the Key?" Lindsey snarled, and Angel's eyes hardened.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he growled, and Lindsey stabbed the stake quickly into Angel's chest, just above his heart. Angel's face went ashen with pain, but he made no sound.

"Liar," Lindsey said nastily, and twisted the stake out of Angel's flesh. "I know you know where it is. I know you're protecting it."

"I'm not telling you anything," Angel coughed, and Lindsey drew back his arm again, but Lilah sprang forward suddenly and grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Stop," she said firmly, and Lindsey stared at her in disbelief. "Lindsey. This is _our _project. _Stop."_ She stepped between the two men and held Angel up by the shoulder. "We don't want to kill you."

"You don't?" Angel said flatly, and Lindsey simultaneously uttered, "We don't?"

Lilah tilted her head in consideration. "Well. Not right now. But helping us is in your best interest."

"Really." Angel scoffed, and stepped away from them, closer to the door.

"Do you even know what the Key does?" Lilah asked calmly. "It'll break down dimensional barriers. Every hell we know and more bleeding into each other and then us."

Angel rolled his eyes. "And I wonder who would possibly want to do that."

"You misunderstand us, Angel," Lindsey interjected suddenly, seeing Lilah's rationale. "We don't want that to happen."

"And even if we did, we have half a dozen other ways besides a silly Key to do it," Lilah said, stepping beside Lindsey and folding her arms. "It's in your best interest to help us find the Key so we can destroy it."

"Oh, sure," Angel said, his voice unreadable. "I'll just hand over the Key to you, and then I'll drop every other way I know of right into your hands!" He spat at their feet and stomped through the door, and then turned, his features hardening. "You guys have nothing on me," he said in a deadly whisper. "I know you won't kill me, because you've had scores of chances to and here I am, as alive as any old corpse. And Lindsey, you may think you're the It Guy with your borrowed power, but that ain't gonna last. And when it's over, you're gonna have one pissed-off Hell god on your hands. Have fun with that." He started to stomp off, and Lilah rushed to the door.

"We will be coming for you," she shouted after him. "We're going to find the Key. We have ways. And if you make it difficult, we'll start killing off your little friends one-by-one."

Angel turned. "That's right," he said slowly, his face an unnerving mask of calm. "But two can play that game, Lilah Morgan."

Lilah felt an involuntary shudder run up her back as his smolderingly dark eyes pierced hers, and then he turned around and stomped away.

* * *

"So lemme get this straight." Gunn held up a hand. "The kid sister of Angel's old flame ran away and came here."

"More like a forest fire than a flame, but yeah." Cordelia nodded.

"And so you just kept her here and didn't tell nobody."

"Yep."

"And then you went and got the city locked down and Wolfram and Hart on your tail."

"Yeah."

"And then you lost the kid and the police found her."

"Uh-huh."

"And then the kid got away _again."_

"Yes, we're complete idiots, thank you for the recap, Gunn," Wesley said irritably.

"Just trying to wrap my head around the mess, brother," Gunn said mildly, leaning back in his chair. "Man, I leave y'all for four days and _this _happens."

"It wasn't entirely our fault," Cordelia protested, and Wesley gave her a tired look. "Well, yeah. It kind of was."

"So the boss is losin' his head over a little kid?" Gunn raised an eyebrow.

"His head, his neck, his shoulders, his whole damn body," Cordelia said tiredly. "I mean, not that he's usually Mr. Mental Health 2001, but the past few days have been- difficult."

"Difficult? Try hellish." Wesley took a slow sip of tea. "Playing therapist to a 250-year-old vampire takes its toll on you."

"So what can we do for Angel?" Gunn asked.

"Well, he's off playing whack-a-lawyer to try to get us out of this damn city," Cordelia said. "In the meantime, we're just waiting for the littlest Summers to show up. If she doesn't soon, we can look for her."

"Which Angel isn't doing because there are less flammable times of day for him to be out and about," Gunn concluded, nodded. "I got it. So how long do you think it'll take for the kid to show?"

"Not long," a voice said, and they all looked up and saw Dawn slumped against the front door, holding her side. "Can someone help me here? I'm bleeding from like nine different places." She turned and they saw a large blood stain spreading on her shirt where her hands were.

"Oh, baby," Cordelia murmured, as she and Wesley rushed to help the teen. "What happened to you?"

"You know those bouncy awning things that people always jump onto in the movies? Not so bouncy. You kind of just fall right through them." Wesley lifted Dawn into his arms and she winced. "Ow! Watch the shoulder. I think it's dislocated. I might've broken my ankle too." Wesley draped her onto the couch gently and slid a pillow under her head. "So, where's Angel?"

"He went to the firm," Cordelia said, kneeling down beside the couch. "He should be back soon. He'll be glad to see you."

"He's not mad?" Dawn looked up worriedly.

"Of course not." Wesley brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "He's worried sick about you. I imagine he'll be too relieved to be angry." He stood up and went towards the kitchen.

"Good." Dawn relaxed a bit, and then noticed Gunn in the background, who was watching with interest. "Who's the new guy?"

"Gunn. Charles." Gunn stepped forward and knelt down next to Cordelia. "Which side's the one without the dislocated shoulder?" Dawn smiled weakly and held up her right arm. He shook her hand vigorously. "I work with the gang here. And you're the Slayer's sister?"

"Don't remind me." Dawn closed her eyes. "I'm also a Key, if that means anything to you. If you'd like to kill me or stick me in a lock, now is your time."

"Don't ring no bells, sister." Gunn stood up. Dawn opened her eyes in surprise.

"You actually don't know? That's refreshing." She looked at Cordelia. "You haven't filled him in yet?"

"He just got back a little while ago," Wesley said, coming back with a glass of water and a first aid kit. "Let's get you cleaned up, shall we?" Cordelia helped the girl into a sitting position and then removed her jean jacket. They waited for her to show them the wound, but she sat there stiffly.

"We need to see, honey," Cordelia said quietly, and Dawn's eyes darted from Wesley to Gunn.

"They're _guys," _she said pointedly, and Wesley and Gunn got the point and turned around. Dawn reluctantly peeled up her shirt to the bottom of her ribcage, and Cordelia gasped a little.

"How bad is it?" Wesley asked without turning around.

"I mean, I've seen worse," Cordelia said, and started fumbling in the first aid kit. "Wes, we're out of alcohol pads."

"I'll get 'em," Gunn said, standing up. "Where do we keep first aid supplies?"

"Cabinet under the sink," Angel said, and everyone turned to look at the door, where he was now standing. He stumbled forward. "Can I join the first aid party? Anyway, no luck on the lawyer front. I think they're onto us. Lindsey stole Glory's powers and he was pulling all this James Bond crap and-" His eyes focused on Dawn and he strode forward, instantly at her side. "Oh my god. What did you do?" he demanded.

Dawn pulled down her shirt and crossed her arms defensively. "I thought you said he wouldn't be mad," she whispered.

Angel's face softened. "I'm not mad," he said calmly. "Just worried. Can I see?"

"We were takin' care of that before you got here," Gunn answered, striding up and handing a package of alcohol pads to Cordelia. "And we've already established that the rest of us are too male to help with this procedure." Angel nodded and slumped to the ground with his back to the couch.

"So one of your lawyer people stole Glory's powers?" Dawn said, sounding slightly awed, peeling up the edge of her shirt again. "Why'd he do that?"

"Because he has the I.Q. of a banana peel," Angel answered coolly. "It won't last. It can't possibly. Even Wolfram and Hart aren't that powerful."

"Do they-" Dawn began, and then stopped.

"What?" Angel turned his head slightly, but not all the way, respecting the young girl's modesty.

"Do they know I'm the Key?" Her words came out in a clumsy rush, followed by a crack at the end of her sentence.

"No," Angel said firmly. "I think they- I think they know that I know, but I ain't gonna tell them and we're gonna do everything we can to keep you safe. Okay?" He held his hand back behind him and the young girl closed her fingers around his.

* * *

Angel gently lowered Dawn, who was wearing an old t-shirt and a pair of leggings that belonged to Cordelia, onto the bed. She pressed her head into the pillow and closed her eyes.

"Are you going to be okay?" Angel asked softly.

"Naw." She didn't open her eyes. "Okay is so boring."

Angel leaned against the bedpost. "You don't have to be okay."

"I'm not trying." Dawn opened her eyes again. "You haven't forgotten about our really stupid argument, have you?"

"It wasn't a stupid argument. I was stupid," Angel said firmly. "You're going through a lot, and I'm about 240 years older than you." She giggled. "It was my fault. I wasn't being fair, and you're here now. It's all going to be okay."

"But is it?" She sat up, her green eyes holding his. "I don't know much about these lawyer people, but I'm scared."

"I know. " Angel sat down on the end of the bed. "But I'm not gonna let them hurt you, Dawn. You don't have to be scared."

"Can I be scared anyway?" Her eyes were wider than a fawn's.

"Absolutely." He grabbed her hand. "You wanna be scared, Dawn? Be scared. If you wanna be sad, be sad. I'm gonna wait it out with you. And I'm gonna protect you with my un-life and everything it's worth." The corners of her mouth turned up tentatively.

"Thanks," she said quietly. "For- for everything. And for not being mad at me for bolting."

"I couldn't be mad," Angel said honestly. "I'm just really glad you're back."

"Me, too." There was half a beat of silence, and then Dawn spoke again. "There's just one thing that I wish was different."

"What's that?" Angel leaned forward.

"Buffy." Dawn hesitated, and looked at him earnestly. "I want Buffy. I miss her so much, and even though she's really annoying and controlling and doesn't let me borrow her clothes, she does so much for me. Even after she found out what-" she hesitated and then continued. "-what I was, she still protected me. Even though she knows I'm not her sister. And I ran away from her."

"You needed space," Angel said firmly. "You were scared. No-one could blame you. It's not your fault we got trapped in here."

"I know, but-" Dawn bit her lip.

"But what?" Angel held her gaze, features soft.

"Couldn't she come anyway?" She begged, and Angel felt his defenses melt. "I mean, you could probably figure out all this stuff twice as fast with her here. And, and she knows everything about Glory."

"Dawn, if she comes here, she's trapped. I don't want Buffy getting hurt," Angel said gently. Dawn made a frustrated squeak and thrust her head down onto the pillow.

"That's always the case, isn't it?" she snapped. "That's why you left her." Angel looked away, stung. "'_Buffy, I'm leaving you because I'm too dangerous and dark for you." _She dropped her voice to a low moan in mocking. "Well, my sister is very strong and capable and she can take care of herself, okay? And she'd want to take care of me, too. And I think I want her to." Dawn sat up again and hugged her knees.

"I'll- I'll think about it," was all Angel could say. Dawn rolled her eyes.

"Well, in any case, she'll be here soon," she said hotly. "The police called them."

Angel looked up sharply. He had forgotten all about the police. "Right." He stood up.

"Where are you going?" Dawn's eyes followed him imploringly.

"Downstairs," Angel answered, making for the door. "You should rest. I need to talk to my crew."

He closed the door softly behind him and then slumped against the wall. Dawn was right. Buffy was going to be here, no doubt, it was just a question of when.

"Angel?" Cordelia appeared at the top of the stairs, and he straightened up. "Where's Dawn?" she asked.

"Resting," Angel answered, stumbling towards the stairs. Cordelia watched him closely.

"Are you okay?" She asked. Angel moved slowly, as if he were sleepwalking. "Did something happen?"

"Let's wait until we get downstairs," he said. Cordelia looked like she might protest and he gestured to the door that Dawn was behind. She nodded and followed him down the stairs.

"How is she?" Wesley asked, standing up as the other two approached.

"Okay. Just exhausted." Angel slumped onto the couch.

"She's not the only one," Wesley said, and sat back down.

"So, what's the deal?" Gunn interjected as Cordelia sat down beside him. "We gonna call the big sister or what?"

"The police contacted them already," Angel said tiredly.

"But they didn't answer, right?" Cordelia said, leaning forward onto her elbows.

"Yeah, but they'll be here soon enough," Angel answered. "I'm sure word's gotten out by now that something's weird in L.A."

"And she'll have noticed that the Hell god isn't giving her trouble anymore," Wesley pointed out. "Frankly, I'm surprised she hasn't arrived already. All signs point to us."

"The Slayer ain't gonna kick our asses, is she?" Gunn asked. "I mean, you kept her sister safe." The rest of the crew glanced around at each other. "Oh. She is gonna kick our asses."

"Plan on excessive ass-kicking," Cordelia answered.

"But just your asses, right?" Gunn asked. "I mean, I had nothing to do with it." They glared at him. "Okay, okay. Forget the ass-kicking. What's the plan?"

"Probably a fist fight, excessive sexual tension, and a heartbreaking sewer talk," Cordelia said frankly. Gunn snickered. Angel gave her a contemptuous look.

"Are we going to try to approach Buffy to work with us?" Wesley asked, taking his glasses off.

Angel shrugged. "It's not like she really has a choice."

"She could beat the crap out of you," Gunn pointed out.

Wesley shot him an irate expression. "Not helping, Gunn."

"I'm _just _saying." Gunn leaned back. "You, her former lover, hid her little sister who she's probably worried sick about and _then _you got a whole law firm on her tail. If I were Buffy, I'd be pissed as hell." He shrugged. "Just my two cents, man."

"Well, you're not wrong," Cordelia said tiredly. "When Buffy arrives, she's gonna be-"

"Pretty upset," a voice finished, echoing in the lobby. Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn whipped their heads around, but Angel didn't have to. His blood was already cold. "Wouldn't you?"


	9. Chapter Nine

**A/N: Sorry this took so long! I was really waffling about where I wanted to go with this next chapter. On that note, I realized writing this chapter that I would really appreciate a second opinion on this. If anyone would be interested in beta-reading for me for the rest of this story, or just letting me casually bounce ideas off of you, or if you can recommend a good beta reader, please PM me. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Angel took a breath in and then turned around, bracing himself. There she was, larger than life and looking, as Gunn predicted, pissed as hell. She also looked pretty hot, in ripped skinny jeans and a black tank top, but that was beside the point.

"Hello, Buffy," he said coolly, folding his arms. Their eyes locked, and for a minute, they spoke to each other without words. They had always been able to do that.

But the moment was suddenly cut short when the door swung open again and Angel froze, completely stunned. Spike swaggered into the building, hair as bleached and slicked-back as the last time Angel had seen him, and still wearing exactly the same coat.

"Leave it to that great poofter to pick out a dump like this one," he snorted, and then his eyes locked on Angel. "Oh. Hullo there, mate."

"What-" Angel's eyes darted wildly from Buffy to Spike and back to Buffy. "What is _he _doing here?"

"That's not the point," she said stiffly, and stepped forward, her eyes blazing. "Now, you're gonna tell me once and you're gonna tell me quick. Where the hell is my sister?"

"She's in bed," Angel said firmly, holding her defiant gaze.

Spike snorted. "It's 8 in the morning. Bloody hell, don't you people own a clock?"

"Shut up, Spike," Angel and Buffy snapped in unison, and then glared at each other. Buffy shifted her weight and took another step forward.

"He makes a point. She shouldn't be in bed. Unless, of course, you went and got her injured." Her voice cut through the air like a whip. "Lemme guess, multiple stab wounds? Broken arm?"

Angel tried to think of what to say to that and closed his eyes. "Buffy, I know you're angry, but I promise I can expl-"

"Oh, you'd better explain," she said in a deadly voice. "But first you're gonna show me that my sister's alive."

"What?" Angel shook his head, confused. "Why wouldn't she be alive?"

Buffy shot forward and was suddenly at his neck, a stake in her hand. "I don't know," she hissed right by his ear. "You tell me why."

He shoved her off and stepped back, holding up his hands with a equally bewildered and hurt expression on his face. "Buffy, what-?"

"Save it, you bastard," she snarled, whipping the hand with the stake up towards his face. "Where is she?"

Angel stared at her in shock and confusion. Spike stepped forward and snatched the stake out of her hand, and then dragged her back by her shoulder.

"Slayer, get your panties out of a twist," he muttered, shooting a glance at Angel, who was too dumbfounded to speak, and his equally shocked crew. "I think he's clean."

"Clean?" Angel was truly baffled now. "What are you guys- _oh." _He looked from Spike to Buffy, who still wore tense expressions. "You guys thought I was-"

"We got to thinkin' that Angelus was gracin' the world with another visit, yeah," Spike said smoothly, his hand still on Buffy's shoulder, which for some reason really irked Angel.

Buffy cleared her throat. "The LAPD called us last night. We weren't home, but they left a message and there was a detective on the line who said she knew you personally. She said that you kidnapped Dawn and I thought-" She shook her head and brought a hand to her temple wearily. "I dunno. I lost it, I guess. I thought I was gonna come here and find my sister dangling from the ceiling in chains over all of their dead bodies." She gestured to Cordelia, Wesley, and Gunn.

"That's understandable," Angel said, and glanced at his staff for support.

"Totally understandable," Cordelia spoke up. "But you know, he is totally not evil. He is so far from evil it's like he's… not evil. We only had one little incident last year where-" Everyone gaped at her. "But I mean, that wasn't even technically-" Wesley stepped on her foot. "God, will no-one shut me up?"

Buffy ignored her. "I'm sorry for going all attack-bitch on you. It's just-" She took a shaky breath in and shook her head. "Forget it. Where is she?"

Before Angel could answer, he heard footsteps on the staircase and turned to see Dawn. "Buffy?" she called, limping down the staircase. Buffy froze and stared.

"Oh my god, I am so glad to see you," Dawn chirped. She took another step and then stopped abruptly, bending over on the railing. Buffy rushed to her side and picked her sister up off her feet.

"Dawn," she murmured, and kissed her sister on the top of her head. She held her sister at arm's length and gave her a stern look. "_Never _run away from me again."

"Okay," Dawn said in a high voice, and Buffy swept her into a crushing hug.

"Ow," Dawn said pointedly, and Buffy let her feet touch the ground again and helped her sister the rest of the way down the stairs. "Watch the fractured rib," she told her sister, and Buffy shot Angel a disdainful expression.

"Hey, it wasn't his fault," Dawn said, seeing Buffy's face. "I jumped off a building. While running away from the police!" Buffy stared at her. "Um, yeah. The last three days have been _really _weird."

Buffy shook her head and then looked at Dawn again. "Okay, I've seen you. Now, you're gonna go back and rest, and Angel's gonna tell me everything that happened. Alone."

"What?" Dawn protested. "After wondering if I was dead for three days you're just gonna put me back in bed?"

"No, I'm gonna make Spike put you back in bed," Buffy answered, and Dawn's shoulders slumped. Buffy reached out and ran two fingers through her sister's long brown hair. "Don't look so sad. I'll be right up there. I just need to talk to Angel in private, okay?"

Dawn stuck out her lower lip. "Fine. Do your stupid ex fight thingy. But Buffy?" She leaned over and whispered something in her sister's ear. For a split second, something flickered across Buffy's face and her expression changed. Then she just nodded and gave Angel an expectant look.

Dawn looked at them resentfully. Spike rushed to her side and put an arm around her. "C'mon, Niblet," he muttered, and gave Angel a look that could be described as nothing other than seething hatred.

"Hello." Buffy waved a hand in front of his face. "Hate to cut off your mortal enemy stare down, but-"

"Yeah, what happened to that?" Angel turned on her.

She gave him a blank look. "What?"

"Mortal enemies. What you and Spike are supposed to be." He raised an eyebrow.

She stared back at him, completely caught off-guard. "It's complicated," she replied defiantly.

"He's a _killer, _Buffy," Angel said in a low voice. "And you're letting him touch your little sister?"

"Well, it sounds bad when you put it _that _way," Buffy snapped. "Angel, we _clearly _have a lot of catching up to do."

"Yeah we do," he muttered, staring after Spike and Dawn, who had reached the top of the stairs.

"But I asked first," she added. "So. Office."

"Uh, yeah." Angel ran a hand through his hair, suddenly flustered. "My- my office is over here." He rushed to his office door, not looking back at her, and stepped in.

"Nice." Buffy looked around the room. "Who'd've thought a guy like you would have a penchant for the vintage feel?"

"It's an old hotel," Angel replied, sitting down behind his desk.

Buffy snorted. "No kidding," she muttered, sitting down in the chair opposite with him, which creaked as she did so. "Why this place anyway?"

"I stayed here back in the day," he replied evenly. "Before I knew you."

She was quiet for a moment. "Oh," she said finally.

They stared at each other across the desk for a beat, and then she spoke up. "I don't understand. What the hell did you think you were doing, keeping my little sister around your house anyway? You- you _know _about the Key thing, right?" Angel nodded and she gaped at him in annoyance and frustration. "See, I _don't _get that. You _had _to know I would be worried sick about her. You _had _to know she could be in danger, in _extreme _danger, Angel, and I know you're strong and stuff, but-" She shook her head, suddenly blinking back tears. "I don't get it. Why did you do that? Do you really hate me that much?"

Her voice rose to a childlike pitch on the last few words, coming out as a plaintive question. It sounded more like a plea than a question- like she was begging him to come up with an explanation that would make this all okay.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. She slammed her fist on the desk in frustration.

"Is that really all you can say? Of _course _you're sorry. You had _better _be sorry. But I don't want sorry, Angel." She looked away from him and then back, her face set in determination. "I want answers. So give me answers."

"Okay." He looked up into her eyes and forced himself to smile, which she returned with a stony glare. He inhaled again, about to launch into the explanation, and then regarded her gently. "I don't hate you, Buffy."

She closed her eyes in exasperation, and then opened them again. "I _know _that, dammit. We can do the whole back-and-forth-apologizing-with-sexual-tension thing later. Just tell me what the hell the last three days have been about."

"Alright." He took a breath and then, all in a rush, explained everything- about how distressed Dawn was when she first arrived, how he intended to take her back as soon as the Amber Alert was released, and how Wolfram and Hart trapped them with this barrier that they didn't know how to break. She stared at him for a full minute after he finished and then, without warning, broke into laughter.

"There are evil- evil lawyers?" she managed, breathlessly.

"Yeah," he said, stunned. "But it's not really a laughing matter. It's actually pretty-"

Buffy stopped laughing. "I know," she said, her voice completely sober. "It's never a laughing matter. But you gotta laugh sometimes, otherwise it kills you."

"You're not wrong about that," he said softly.

"So…" Buffy ran a hand through her hair. "How do we get out of here?"

"I don't know," Angel admitted. "I haven't really had time to research."

"How do you not have time?" Buffy asked, exasperated. "You've been too busy with your buzzing social life?"

Angel glared at her. "Lemme think. I was unconscious for a whole day, and then I was busy looking for your sister, so no, I haven't had time."

Buffy stared at him. "You were unconscious? How?"

"The barrier." Angel stretched his arms out behind him. "Catastrophic car crash. My car's still in the shop, and I was out of it for a whole day. Apparently I cried a lot. Only reason Dawn wasn't affected was because of the whole Key thing."

Buffy's expression softened. "So you did try. You were trying to keep her safe."

"Of course." Angel straightened up. "That's all I've been trying to do since she got here."

She stared at him for a moment, and then managed a small smile. "Thank you."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," he answered. "It was- honestly, I was scared to see you again."

"I get that." She looked up at the ceiling and laughed. "God, this is so messed up, isn't it? We broke up in high school and now whenever we see it it's constant angst and tension." She came around the side of the desk and leaned against the wall. "Let's make it easier and agree to not be pining after each other the whole time I'm here, okay?"

"Would that make it easier for you?" he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Maybe." She shrugged.

"Let's drink on it." He reached under his desk and produced two shot glasses and a small bottle. She laughed as he poured the drink and slid a glass across the table to her.

"Is this how you do things in L.A.?" She said, raising an eyebrow. "Drink on everything?"

"It's a habit I formed with clients." He lifted the glass to his lips and took the shot. "Makes people a lot more generous with their money."

"Oh, right, I forgot." She stopped with the glass right at her lips. "You're the vampire detective now."

"It sounds stupid when you say it like that." He looked at her reproachfully.

She giggled. "I'm sorry. It is kind of funny."

"Sure it is." He watched her as she tilted the glass towards her mouth, and then rushed straight to what was bothering him. "Are you sleeping with Spike?"

Her eyes widened and she spat the alcohol all over her shirt. "What?" she choked, leaning against the desk.

"I dunno. I mean, you brought him _with _you here. And Dawn said-"

"Oh god." She straightened up, wiping her mouth. "What did my 14-year-old sister say?"

He shifted. "Just that he hangs around with you guys. And that you were kind of mean to him." Buffy stared at him in disbelief. "He had his hand on your shoulder."

"Oh god, Angel." She shook her head, laughing. "I've changed a lot since you saw me last, but not _that_ much. _Never _that much."

"Why did you let him come, then?"

"What?" Buffy crossed her arms. "Is that what you think of me now? The only reason I would bring a man with me was because I was sleeping with him?"

"That's not what I meant," he said hastily, and she shook her head again.

"It's okay. Um, I brought Spike with me because-" She shot a glance at the ceiling. "God, why _did _I bring him with me? Well, it wasn't because he chooses good road trip music, that's for sure. We listened to the _same _Billy Idol album the _whole-"_

_"Buffy," _he said firmly, mainly because picturing Spike and Buffy in a car together was wildly disturbing to him.

"Sorry." She shifted in her chair. "I brought him because he has the best shot at protecting Dawn if something happens to me."

"What makes you think he won't just make her his dinner?"

"He wouldn't." Angel raised an eyebrow. "At least, he can't. He physically can't. It's- a long story." She let out a long exhale. "Things have changed a _lot_, Angel."

"I'm getting that." Angel stood up. "Do you want to see Dawn now?"

"Sure." She stood up and followed him to the door. "Can I trust you not to stake Spike?" she asked, only half-joking.

Angel glanced around like a trapped animal, and then met Buffy's defiant gaze again. "If he lays a finger on _anyone _here-" he said in a dangerous voice.

"He won't." Buffy looked at him seriously. "I'll kill him before he can touch them."

"Good to know that hasn't changed," Angel muttered, and opened the door.

"Have you both got all four limbs left?" Spike called, looking up from the couch, where he had propped his feet up onto the coffee table and was reading a newspaper.

"Why is he reading my newspaper?" Angel snapped, and stormed over to the couch, yanking it out of Spike's hands. "And get your feet off the table. That's an antique."

"So am I, and you don't see anyone around here treatin' me gently," Spike complained, and Angel kicked him in the shin so that he scrambled to his feet.

"Bloody hell," Spike muttered, taking a step back with his hands raised. "What did I do to you?"

"Let's make a deal. You keep your mouth shut, and I might not kill you." Spike gave him a dark look. Angel glanced around the room. "Where's Wesley?"

"Back here," Wesley called, and popped up from behind the counter with a large book in hand. Angel glanced at Buffy, who nodded and made for the stairs. He walked across the room and came behind the counter.

"What d'you got, Wes?" Angel had barely spoken when Wesley picked up a book and flipped it open to the middle.

"Listen to this," Wesley said excitedly. "The Orb of Kratos. It can extract a higher being's power and form a link to a mortal, and as long as that link remains undisturbed, the god stays comatose and the mortal can exercise the god's powers."

"Lindsey," Angel murmured.

"Precisely." Wesley nodded. "If the Orb is destroyed, the powers go back to the god."

"Why would we want to do that?" Angel glanced at him.

"Well, that brings me to point B." Wesley removed his glasses and wiped them on the corner of his shirt. "The barrier can be destroyed by a large bioelectric shock. Destroying the Orb would-"

"-create a shock," Angel concluded, seeing where he was going with this. "Because it has their DNA in it."

"Hold up." Gunn stepped forward, and Angel turned, realizing that the rest of the crew had been listening. Including Spike. "You did hear the part where destroying the Orb gives the hell bitch her bad mojo back, right?"

"It's the only option," Wesley said evenly.

"Besides, someone's trying to kill Dawn either way," Angel said, straightening up. "Better to be able to run from a homicidal god then to be trapped in a city with a whole firm of lawyers."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Cordelia said.

"Cordy, you go get Buffy," Angel commanded, and stepped towards the weapons cabinet.

"Oi." Spike stepped in front of him. "What about me? I'm just s'posed to sit tight until all the magic orbs are destroyed?"

"That sounds like a great plan. Bravo, Spike." Angel pushed him out of the way.

"How about you go talk to Buffy." Cordelia smiled at him thinly. "And then, go make some coffee. Make yourself useful. Then stay the hell out of our way."

"You sure are a strange lot," Spike muttered, glowering at Cordelia. "At least the Scoobies always have beer."

******  
"And then I hit him with a table!" Dawn said proudly, leaning forward to see the grin on her sister's face.

"Sound like you've had quite the vacation," Buffy concluded, laughing.

Dawn snorted. "Some vacation. Angel barely let me out of his sight even _before _every person on this side of the equator was trying to kill me."

"He was just trying to protect you," Buffy said gently.

Dawn nodded. "I know." She was quiet for a moment, and then looked up at her sister. "So? Did you listen to me and go easy on him?"

Buffy shrugged. "I think so. I mean, I don't think he was expecting me to."

"This wasn't his fault," Dawn said earnestly, looking her sister in the eye. "None of it. He was just trying to help."

"I know, Dawnie." Buffy looked away. "It's just-" She bit her lip. "I was so worried. So worried. A-anything could've happened to you, anything at all, not just Glory or lawyers or whatever. You could've been dead or pregnant or in a demon dimension or something. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the Key thing sooner, but I was- I was just trying to protect you." She closed her eyes and then opened them again, and bit her lip to keep herself from crying. "I haven't slept since you went missing, Dawn." Dawn looked away. "A-and they were investigating all our best friends. Giles and Xander and Willow and everyone. And Mom's a mess."

"Oh, god." Dawn leaned forward suddenly, hugging her knees. "I-is she furious? Is she gonna ground me till I'm like 35?"

"I dunno." Buffy's eyes twinkled. "Between you and me, she might be too relieved to punish you."

"I hope so." Dawn's shoulders relaxed. Then she perked up. "Hey, do you think I could get a raise in my allowance?"

"Don't push it." Buffy looked at her sister sternly. "What you did was really stupid."

"I know," Dawn said quietly, examining her hands. "I mean, I get that _now. _ I just sort of freaked in the moment, you know?"

"I do know." Buffy picked up both of her sister's hands with hers. "I mean, it's not like I've never up and run away to Los Angeles before when something got screwed up." Dawn smiled timidly. "I mean, _not _that I'm encouraging it. Running away is bad. Really bad. Don't do that to me again." She looked at her sister with an expression somewhere between a reprimand and a pout.

"I won't," Dawn said resolutely.

Buffy put a hand on each of Dawn's shoulders. "Promise."

Dawn rolled her eyes, but obliged. "I promise. And even if I do, one of your exes will probably show up and protect me."

"Are you complaining?" Buffy teased.

Dawn tilted her head, and then grinned. "Naw." She sat up straight suddenly. "As long as it's not Scott Hope."

Buffy opened her mouth, about to protest to this diss on her ex, when the door creaked open. They both glanced over their shoulders to see Spike leaning in the doorway.

"Uh, Batman wants to speak to you," he muttered awkwardly, looking away from Buffy. "He's got some whacked-up plan to blast a magic orb to get us out of this city. At the law firm. He wants your in."

"Oh, I'm in." Buffy stood up and the bed springs squeaked. "I'm all in. I'm gonna go kick some lawyer ass."

"Do you have to?" Dawn looked up hopefully. "I haven't seen you for three days. Can't we- you know –hang?"

"We did hang. We hung." Dawn's shoulders slumped and Buffy reached out to stroke her hair. "I'm sorry, baby. I just want to get us the hell out of here, okay?"

"Fine." Dawn stuck her lip out. "I'll just stay up here. Alone. Where demons could hop right through that open window and kidnap me." She looked at Buffy pointedly.

"That's- that's a good point," Buffy said slowly, and glanced at Spike. "Could you-"

"Don't need to ask me twice," he said, making a little salute to Buffy with his right hand. She rolled her eyes and walked to the door. "Though a thank you would be nice," he called after her.

There was a beat of silence, and then Dawn giggled. "Batman? Really?"

"That's what he was actin' like," Spike said dryly, walking up to the bed and sitting down at the foot. "Givin' orders down there like he's the ruddy savior of Gotham or summat."

"Why do you do that?" Dawn asked suddenly.

He glanced at her. "Do what?" he asked curiously.

"Make fun of Angel like that."

He snorted. "We're mortal enemies, darlin'. Look It up."

"No, it's not that." She sat up, biting her lip thoughtfully. "I remember you making fun of him before, back in Sunnydale." She faltered, her face dimming slightly. "I wasn't actually there, of course. But I remember what it was like. Now you poke fun at him every time his name comes up in a conversation, like it's your _job _to mock him or something."

Spike looked flustered for a moment. "I don't know what you're on about, Niblet," he said firmly. "Now, I don't believe you've given me the blow-by-blow of your vacation here in-"

"Don't change the subject." Dawn was grinning. "I'm onto you. Mortal enemies, you said. But you and Buffy, you're _supposed _to be mortal enemies too. Just last year you were threatening to kill her. Heck, you still do. But you haven't yet. Why?"

Spike scowled. "I went to the vet and got neutered, love. Can't bite the other puppies anymore, remember?"

"No, it's not that," she said again, and then broke into a grin. "Oh, my god. You have a crush on Buffy!"

"Wh- _what?" _Spike scrambled to his feet. "They been giving you booze here in L.A., Bit?"

"Shut up." She reached up and punched his arm. "It's so obvious. The way you look at her-"

"Oh, be bloody quiet, will you?" he hissed, and looked around in embarrassment. He met Dawn's smug expression again with a dark expression. "If you repeat your little theory to _anyone, _I'll-"

"What? Scold me to death?" Dawn asked, and giggled at his smoldering glare. "Oh, come on. Don't be like that. I think it's sweet."

"Bloody right, it is," he muttered, and sat back down, trying to regain some of his dignity. "I just don't think I'm really big sister's type, you know?"

"What? You're not dead enough?" Dawn joked.

"Could be. Or maybe I've murdered too many people for her taste." He shrugged, and then leaned forward confidentially. "I'm serious, Nib. You keep this between you 'n me, okay?"

"Sure." Dawn smiled wisely, and then grinned mischievously. "If you pay me enough."

"Nice one, Bit," he snorted, but she gave him a pointed expression. "Come on. You're not serious."

Dawn grinned again. "Let's start at $20."

* * *

"This is the evil law firm?" Buffy looked around as she climbed through the pothole into the basement of Wolfram and Hart.

"Yeah." Angel grabbed her hand and helped her up. "What, it not live up to your expectations?"

Buffy blinked again. "I dunno. I just thought it would be a little more, you know, evil looking."

"It says 'Attorneys at Law'," Gunn said, poking his head out of the hole. "What more proof of evil do you need?"

"I usually like fangs and the lack of a heartbeat," Buffy quipped.

"Welcome to Los Angeles, where the grey area between good and evil is forever becoming greyer." Wesley grabbed Gunn's outstretched hand and pulled himself up into the room. Gunn shoved the lid back on with his foot.

"So lemme get this straight." Buffy said, as the four made their way toward the elevator. "This is the highly guarded headquarters of your mortal enemies, and we're just walking in in the middle of the day to steal an ancient artifact?"

"Pretty much." Angel pushed the elevator button.

"I like you guys." Buffy grabbed a stake out of her pocket and stepped through the elevator door.

"You're sure they won't just stake you this time?" Gunn asked as they filed in.

"If they were going to kill me, they would've already," Angel said dismissively. "Anyway, Lindsey's guard is totally down what with the whole god powers thing. He let me walk in this morning and didn't try to kill me." He stopped. "Okay, he did, but he wasn't being _serious. _He was just showing off."

"And we don't know anyone who ever does that," Wesley muttered.

Angel raised an eyebrow at him. "What was that, Wes?"

"I said, 'Sounds like a plan that's sure to succeed, Angel'," Wesley said mildly.

"Oh, come on. Don't be so British." Angel punched his friend's arm. "It's fine. We all know Lindsey doesn't actually have the guts to kill me."

"Be that as it may, I don't believe you've thought through this plan," Wesley insisted, and the elevator beeped, indicating that they were on the fourth floor. The doors slid open. "How do you plan to destroy this orb in the first place?"

"Just how your books told me to. Little magic sand, little Latin. We're good," Angel said confidently.

"That's not what I meant." Wesley rushed up to Angel's side. "Surely this thing is guarded. Do you expect they'll just let you take it?"

Angel glanced at him. "See, I don't let that kind of negative thinking in." He stopped at the double-doors at the end of the hall, reading "Lindsey McDonald, co-vice president of Special Projects".

"I'm with Wes," Gunn agreed as Angel yanked the door open. "The only way you're gonna get to smash that orb is if-"

The group stopped dead. Lindsey's office, which was lacking the man himself, was completely wrecked. The desk lay on its side against the wall, its contents in a smashed pile beside it. Every bookshelf had been knocked backwards into the wall, the books thrown everywhere, and the ground was decorated by a thin layer of broken glass and crumpled papers. In the middle of this chaos, there was one oddly clean spot. It appeared that the mess had been _blown _away by something, creating a circle of neatness, with a perfect outline scorched into the carpet around it. And in the middle of this circle was a pile of smashed glass, but some pieces were still large enough for one to see the golden inscriptions on it.

"My god," Wesley murmured, awed.

"-is if it's already smashed," Gunn finished, looking around in equal parts reverence and shock.

"Damn," Buffy whispered, stepping forward to examine the remains of the Orb.

"This can't be good," Angel muttered, bending down to look at the Orb too.

"Uh, not really seeing how." Gunn raised his hand. "All that means is the Big Bad got her powers back. Which we were going to do anyway, right?"

"No," Buffy murmured, picking up one of the larger fragments. "This wasn't done by a person. Look at this mess. Everything was blown backwards by something. There was an explosion. And the impact point is-"

"Right here." Angel stood up. "The Orb exploded."

"Okay, but how?" Gunn folded his arms.

"Anyone's guess but mine. Wes?" Angel glanced at Wesley, who was suddenly very interested in the pattern on the carpet.

"I fear I may have missed an important detail about the Orb," Wesley said, removing his glasses and reaching down to clean them on the hem of his shirt.

"No kidding." Buffy crossed her arm and joined Angel's side, cornering Wesley. "Which footnote do you think mentions the part where the Orb goes all kablooey?"

"I don't remember. It- it must not have been in the book, I _swear. _There's no other way I could've missed something so important." Wesley brought his hand to his temple, disconcerted.

"What's important?" Angel grabbed his friend by the shoulder. "C'mon, Wes. Talk to me."

"I'm _thinking." _Wesley pulled away in annoyance. "The Orb maintains the link between the two life sources, so that the powers can be shared with another being. If the Orb is broken, the link gets severed, the powers go back to their original biological source. But if one of the life sources is eliminated- namely, killed, then-" he trailed off, thinking, and the others stared at him, rapt.

"Then what?" Angel demanded.

"Then the loose power would be too much, and the Orb would combust!" Wesley finished excitedly.

"So your lawyer boy's dead?" Buffy surmised, and Gunn looked eager. Wesley shook his head.

"No, I don't think that would do it. Most of the power is still in Glory's body at that point anyway, so if Lindsey were eliminated, the powers would simply filter back to her. For this to happen-" he stopped and frowned, troubled. "Well, why would they do that?"

"Fun would be a good guess, English." The group of four whirled around to see Lilah leaning in the doorway, smirking. "The bitch was just talking too much for my taste. All that being called a lowly human, it _really _bogs you down after a while."

"What did you do?" Angel demanded.

Lilah tilted her head. "I don't know why, but for some reason I just don't want to tell you that."

Buffy sprung forward, a crossbow in hand. "Talk, bitch."

Lilah raised an eyebrow. "Ooh, she's plucky. Who's this latest conquest, Angel?" Angel glared at her. "Oh, don't tell me. It's Slutty the Vampire Slayer!" She grinned unpleasantly. Buffy scowled. "Hey! Remind me to get your autograph when you're chained up in the basement."

"You're not chaining anyone up," Angel growled, and grabbed Lilah by the neck. She gasped and struggled. "Got so cocky there that you forgot you're not the one with the god powers. Tell me _now. _What did you do?"

Lilah was still struggling to get out of his grasp and suddenly shoved her body towards his. A small cross swung from a chain around her neck and hit against Angel's hand. He let go and she scrambled backwards, grabbing a larger cross out of her jacket and holding it out in front of her.

"Go see for yourself," she panted, rubbing her neck with the hand that wasn't holding the cross. "Four doors down the hall."

Angel glanced at Wesley for approval, and he nodded. Angel shoved past Lilah, and the other three followed suit.

"Don't be shocked by what you see," she called after them. "You knew the game was about to change. Game's always changin', soul boy."

"I do not like the sound of that," Gunn muttered, but Angel wasn't listening. He charged ahead to the door Lilah had told them and yanked it open. And stopped dead yet again, square in the doorway.

"Angel? What is it?" Buffy shoved past him and froze. "Oh my god."

Glory lay on the ground, motionless, her neck bent at an odd angle and her legs sprawled out. Angel's eyes traveled to a figure against the wall- Lindsey Mcdonald, cowering in the corner.

"Lindsey?" Wesley spoke up. "What happened?"

Lindsey was staring into space. "Didn't do it," he muttered, straightening up. "Didn't do it. Not me. They did it. They wanted the power, all they want is power-"

"Shut up." Angel lunged forward. "You're the one who's drunk on power here. Only now you don't have it anymore, do you?"

"Wasn't me," Lindsey repeated and looked up, wild-eyed. "Wasn't me. I didn't want this, all these voices in my head, yelling and pushing and shoving-" He fell back against the wall and slid to the ground. "No more voices. I'm done. This is too much. I'm not meant for this, not built for this- I'M DONE!" He shot to his feet, staring at the ceiling wildly.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Angel grabbed him by his shirt.

"Angel, wait," Wesley called.

"Wes, I am _kind of _in the middle of something!" Angel grabbed Lindsey's neck. Lindsey looked at him, and then _giggled. _And then hurled Angel toward the wall, even stronger than before. Lindsey stared at Angel, crumpled in the corner, and then fell to the ground again, muttering to himself feverishly.

Angel staggered to his feet, staring at Lindsey, and then looked back at Wes. "He has her powers. When she died, the powers went to him."

"That makes sense," Gunn agreed. "What doesn't make sense is why he's gone all mental patient on us."

"Wait." Buffy held up a hand. "Brain thinking. Glory sometimes went psycho like this too. And then she has to suck people's brains to get back to normal, because-"

"Because the human body can't handle that much pure power," Wesley exclaimed. "My god. He doesn't just have her powers. He's actually become a _god."_

"A bat-crazy one," Gunn commented.

"Good observation, Denzel." Angel glanced back to discover that Lilah had appeared in the doorway yet again, though this time a cadre of security guards was at her side.

"Go away, why don't you?" he spat. "You've done enough damage for one day."

"Then you've underestimated me." Lilah smiled unnervingly. "See, it was never my idea for Lindsey to have the god powers, let alone _become _a god. He just can't handle it, and he's unreliable. He has a hero complex, like you, Angel. And that's useless to the cause." She stepped through the crowd and reached a hand out to Lindsey. "C'mon, baby. Let's get you something to feel better, huh?" She helped him to his feet and gestured at Angel and his friends. "Which of their brains do you think tastes best?"

"Run!" Buffy shouted, and the group sprang for the door, but the guards blocked them, shoving them back.

"How about the blonde, huh?" Lilah was leading Lindsey towards the door, closing in on them. "She was getting on my nerves."

Lindsey sprang forward, arms outstretched, and Buffy ducked at the last possible second. Lindsey's fingers sunk into the temple of the guard standing right behind her. Angel, Wesley and Gunn watched in shock and awe as the guard bellowed in pain and sunk to his knees. Lilah grinned, impressed.

Lindsey straightened up. "Well, now." He grinned. "That sure feels better."

"I can't believe it." Buffy took a sip of coffee. "We managed to keep our worlds entirely separate for what, a year and a half?"

"A year," Angel said dismally.

"A year," Buffy agreed, bleakly. "And then my sister stays with you for three days and our worlds become hopelessly and insanely tangled. Namely, your bad guys murder my bad guys."

"Which only goes to show that us staying away from each other is a good idea," Angel pointed out.

"Yeah," Buffy said quietly. "But I mean, it's not all a bad, right? Now there's one less hell god in this world. She's not after Dawn anymore, because, well, she's dead. And that's a good. I was worried. I had no idea how to handle Glory. She was ten times faster, stronger, and smarter than me."

"And Wolfram and Hart is ten times faster, stronger, and smarter than that," Angel said grimly. "Plus really good funding. And now they're on your tail."

"But they don't know Dawn is the Key." Buffy looked at him sharply. "They don't know Dawn is the Key, right?"

"No," Angel said quickly. "They don't."

"So we can just go home, then. It'll be cool. I can defend my sister from anything they send my way." Buffy stood up.

"I- I dunno." Angel stood up hastily. "Actually, I do know. _No. _Leave town. Leave the _country. _Run as fast as you can, while you can still get a head start."

"Angel," Buffy said wearily, but he shook his head.

"_Don't. _I'm serious. God, Buffy, don't you get it?" He looked up in frustration. "You said it yourself. My bad guys killed your bad guys. And they did that just to show you how much stronger they are than you or _anything _you know. But you're not getting it because you think you're so damn good!"

"I _am _so damn good." She put her hands on her hips. "Angel, Glory's been sending minions around town for _months _looking for the Key. I've kept Dawn from her this long. And I managed to keep anyone else from finding out about Dawn before that. Your lawyer buddies included."

Angel shook his head, exasperated. "It's different now."

"I get that! Do you think I don't?" she raised her voice, her eyes suddenly blazing. "Angel, I felt sick when I saw Glory's body, which made no sense at first because she's been my mortal enemy as of late. But I felt sick because the thing that's been smiting me down for months just got blown off the map for good." She bit her lip and continued. "I _know _they're stronger, Angel. I know they're smarter and faster. But I also know that when my friends and I stand together, we're one hell of an army."

He looked at her defiant face and sighed. "I know, Buffy. I know you're strong. But you can be even stronger about 2000 miles away."

"I can _handle _it," Buffy snapped. "They're not after us yet. When they are, you'll be the first person I call. I _promise." _She put a good deal of sarcastic emphasis on the last couple words.

They heard footsteps coming down the stairs and looked up to see Spike. "The Bit just drifted off to sleep," he offered.

"Go wake her back up," Buffy commanded. Spike stared at her. "We're going back to Sunnydale."

* * *

"Well?" Lilah demanded. Lindsey was sitting behind his desk, eyes closed, hand to his head.

"It's leaving," he answered, opening his eyes.

"What?" Lilah gaped at him. "You're serious."

"No, I'm just joking because this whole god-intuition power thing that gives me a migraine from hell is so much fun," Lindsey snapped, standing up. "Yes, it's leaving. It's going back where it came from."

"Well, that's great," Lilah muttered. "Back to the home of the Hellmouth where it's impossible to tell one supernatural force from the other." She stood up. "Well, that's it, Mcdonald. We're dead. One of us, at least. Possibly both of us."

"Actually, dead wasn't what we had in mind for you." Lilah and Lindsey turned around quickly to see Linwood walking through the doorway. "We knew this would happen once the barrier went down- of course the Key would leave. Who wouldn't?" He walked up to the desk, his face an unnerving mask of calm. "I went and got a new operation approved."

"New operation?" Lindsey asked warily.

"Yes." Linwood smiled. "You're going undercover. In Sunnydale."


	10. Chapter Ten

**A/N: Wow, that took forever. Sorry! School's over now so I'll have more time to write, hopefully. This chapter isn't super actionpacked- a lot of talking -and I wish I could give you a more exciting chapter after making you wait so long, but at the very least it should be entertaining. A lot of buildup in this one.**

**Enjoy, and thank you for waiting so long!**

* * *

_THREE MONTHS LATER_

Lilah leaned forward, squinting at the monitor. "Really shoddy visual," she muttered, and glared at the young techie. "Is this the best you can do?"

The techie, a slight-shouldered, pimply twenty-something, blinked at her. "Yes."

"Wrong answer!" Lilah threw her coffee cup at the floor, sending French vanilla cappuccino splattering all over the place. The kid jumped. "Clean it up," she snarled, and stepped over to the chair in front of the monitor.

"Boy, someone's grumpy today," a voice chuckled in her ear, and Lilah jumped.

"Lindsey, do that again and I'll have you killed," she hissed, sitting down in the chair.

"You forget I could break your neck with two fingers," Lindsey's voice said in the earpiece. "Come on. Don't be so hard on the kid. It's not his fault everything in this town sucks."

"For once, we agree on something," Lilah muttered, squinting at the blurry picture on the screen of the campiest magic shop known to man. "Not the not-his-fault part. The everything sucking part."

"You'd think you'd forgotten which one of us got us stuck here in the first place," Lindsey muttered, and Lilah sat up straight.

"Did I hear that correctly?" she asked dangerously, tweaking her earpiece. "I think my Bond-style communicator is shorting out, Lindsey, because I could've _sworn _you just tried to blame this stint in Sunnyhell on _me."_

"You killed the god," Lindsey pointed out.

"You stole the god's powers!"

"You teamed up with the god in the first place."

"You screwed up and got us paired up as _co -_vice presidents."

"How the hell was that my fault?"

"Uh, Ms. Morgan?" the techie was standing there timidly.

Lilah glanced at him. "I'm sorry, but I don't remember giving you permission to speak."

"Look." The kid jabbed a pale finger at the monitor screen. Lilah glanced at it and then froze.

A young girl's face was staring straight into one of the cameras, so close up Lilah could see every one of her freckles. "What's this?" she asked, and her voice was so loud through the speakers that it made both Lilah and the techie cringe.

"Uh-oh, did someone find your extra-secret cameras?" Lindsey sneered on the earpiece.

"Shut up," Lilah snapped. "You know, if you really wanted to get us out of this dirthole, you could be making yourself halfway useful by getting your divine ass out of that penthouse and down into the action."

"And get the meddling little Scooby Gang on my tail?" She could practically hear Lindsey smirking. Screw practically, she _could. _"No thank you."

"Not useful for a lot of things, are you, Your Divinity?" she said nastily.

"What can I say," he said smugly. "I'm the management. You're the labor."

Lilah yanked the earpiece out and threw it at the ground violently. She turned her attention back to the screen, where the girl, who looked about 13 or 14, was still staring.

"I thought the cameras were hidden," Lilah hissed.

"Hey, don't look at me." The kid held his hands up. "I'm just the techie."

"You can say that again." Lilah kept her eyes on the screen, but the girl's face was already getting farther away from the camera. As if she was setting it down.

"Why do we have a fertility statue, anyway?" the girl said, and Lilah breathed a sigh of relief.

"Who's that one, again?" Lilah asked, keeping her eyes on the girl.

"Um." The techie picked up a file and paged through it. "Dawn Summers."

"Ah." Lilah nodded. "The Slayer's brat kid sister. You'd think I'd've learned some of their names by now, after three months in this hellhole, but nope. They all sound the same to me."

"What's that noise?" the kid asked, and Lilah listened. She heard a faint shouting.

"Lindsey," she muttered, and bent to the ground. She picked up the earpiece and popped it back in.

"Lilah, I swear to god if you don't turn this back on right-" he was shouting.

"Calm down, tiger," she said in a thoroughly unenthusiastic tone. "Never turned it off. Just threw ya on the ground."

"I wish you would tell me what's going on out there," Lindsey spat. "You know, instead of throwing your earpiece on the ground all the time. Have a little more respect for our partnership."

Lilah scoffed. "Two things, Lindsey. One, if you want to know what's going on out here, you're welcome to drag your godly, omniscient ass down here. I wouldn't mind having the Slayer's ragtag band of accomplices after you myself. At least _something _interesting would be happening. And two, there's a whole lot of nothing going on out here. I think Your Omniscience has us barking up the wrong tree."

Lindsey's voice hardened. "Linwood said-"

"Linwood said target the Slayer and her friends. Linwood said that the Senior Partners told him the key is among them." Lilah stopped and chuckled at her own joke. "Linwood said do this, do that, Linwood said go hide in the stupidest little pit stop in all of California where one of the most powerful objects in existence is supposed to be hiding out. Dammit, Lindsey, I _know _what Linwood said. I know what Linwood wants. But that seems to be all you know. You're just a puppet. I'm just a puppet. We've been hiding out here in Nowheresville for three months and yielded a grand total of nada, but we can't leave because we're puppets. That's all we've ever been."

"What would Holland say?" his voice was low, gravelly, grating. Grating on her last nerve.

"Holland's dead," she said coldly. She yanked her earpiece out and threw it on the ground again, and this time, ground it under her heel. She glanced at the techie, who at this point looked rather terrified. "Get me a double espresso."

* * *

"I don't get it." Cordelia looked up from the computer, where she was typing up a report on one of their cases.

"Get what?" Angel asked idly from the counter, where he was sketching in a large notebook.

"Wolfram and Hart." Cordelia stopped typing briefly, and then started again.

"What about them?" Angel glanced up from his sketching.

"They've just been kind of unnerving me lately." Cordelia pressed a couple buttons on the computer and then stood up, walking around the side of the desk where the printer was spitting out paper.

"How so?" Angel drew a soft curve down the middle of the paper. "Cordy, they haven't done many things of the nefarious variety lately. Me, I'm not complaining."

"That's just it." Cordelia picked the papers up from the printer and walked back over to her desk. "They _haven't _done anything. _Anything. _For like a month."

"Hmm," Angel said uninterestedly, tilting his pencil and filling in a circle.

"Like, I just don't buy it." Cordelia stacked the papers together and stapled them rather violently. "What would make them just leave you alone like that?"

"Hmm." Angel started vigorously erasing the corner of his drawing. "Maybe the fact that I locked twenty of them in a wine cellar with two vampires and then set said vampires on fire?"

"Even before that, there was that fiasco with the Key," Cordelia pointed out. "Hey, what about Lilah and Lindsey? We haven't heard jack from them since the Key thing. Lindsey went all immortal and godly and mentally unstable on us, and then _blip. _Vanished off the radar."

Angel stopped and set his pencil down. "You're right. I hadn't actually thought about that. I've just been pretty preoccupied since then, what with-"

"-firing us?" Cordelia asked flatly. Angel turned around quickly, a guilty expression on his face. Cordelia's face didn't soften. They were on fairly good terms with each other at this point, but their relationship was yet to reach the level of closeness it had been at before.

"I guess," he said sheepishly. "And, you know, the depression and the darkness and the hero complex."

"You've been swamped," Cordelia said dryly, and then crossed her arms. "Hey. You changed the subject."

"Sorry," he murmured, turning back to his drawing. "Okay. The bad people haven't really been doing many bad things, and that's… bad."

"Well, don't you think it's weird that they'd do all that crazy stuff with Darla and then just _stop?"_ Cordelia insisted.

"They're probably just trying to figure out how to top themselves," Angel said indifferently.

"And yet you don't sound terribly concerned," Cordelia said, sounding just a little bit exasperated.

The tiny edge in her voice was enough to get to him. "Well, it's not terribly unusual of them," he snapped, yanking his pencil across the paper, and the lead of the pencil snapped. "Damn," he muttered. He stood up and walked briskly to the cabinet on the other side of the room. Cordelia followed him, arms folded.

"Listen, I don't know if you're still working out issues, but if you could stop being Mr. Emotional Detachment Guy, that would be great," she snapped. "I get that the Darla thing was a lot for you, and whatever caused that little epiphany of yours was a lot too. Big deal! There are people who need you, Angel, and you need to quit sulking and drawing and get back to work."

"Maybe I'll do that if you let me back in," he said hotly, snatching a pencil from the top of the cabinet and accidentally knocking the whole box over.

"Maybe I'll do that if you give me a reason to," she retorted, and then sighed, her face pained. "Angel, I hate doing this. You know I do."

Angel exhaled. "I'm sorry, Cordy. I'm trying. We're all trying."

"Well, try harder." Cordelia turned on her heel and stomped off. Feeling disheartened, Angel returned to his spot on the counter, lost in his art.

There were those soft lines that formed the curve of her chin. And the gentle way her hair flowed around her face, like a current in a river flowing around a rock. But her eyes were everything. He always had to get the shape of her eyes just right, otherwise it didn't look like her.

"Is everything alright?" Angel looked up to see Wesley standing there in his shirtsleeves, looking rather exhausted but not noticeably pissed off at Angel. Which was an improvement.

"Just dandy," Angel muttered, more to himself than to Wesley.

"I heard shouting," Wesley said pointedly.

"We weren't shouting," Angel replied, and erased the outline of the eye. Not right.

Wesley walked up to the counter and took a seat opposite Angel. "You and Cordelia were fighting again?" he asked, as though Angel hadn't spoken.

"Wes, if she wants to pick a fight, I can't stop her," Angel answered, his eyes firmly on his paper.

"You could try not responding," Wesley said calmly.

"And then I get 'Angel, why aren't you talking to me? Why are you ignoring me? Angel, don't you know how to have a conversation?'" Angel made another violent pencil stroke.

"I didn't mean literally," Wesley said dryly.

"I just don't know what to do with her anymore." Angel sighed, staring at his work for a moment.

He could feel Wesley's eyes boring through him and piercing straight through his soul. He didn't even have to be looking at him to know. "You're going to have to earn her trust back. You know that."

"I know that, and I've been trying really damn hard for the last-" Angel stopped, trying to think how long it had actually been since he had rejoined his friends.

"Four weeks?" Wesley said wryly.

Angel looked at him sheepishly. "It's felt like a lot longer."

"Amen to that." Wesley smiled wearily.

"Have you heard from Gunn yet?" Angel asked, eager to change the subject.

"No," Wesley said indifferently, and upon seeing Angel's anxious expression, he added hastily, "It's just a routine patrol. South end of town. Nothing to be worried about."

"I don't like this," Angel muttered. "It's been too long."

"Angel, you needn't be worried," Wesley said calmly. "Gunn is more than capable. You know that."

"Yeah, I know, but…" Angel stared at the paper, as if he were trying to burn a hole in it. "I'm not used to you guys doin' stuff without me. I don't want you to get hurt."

He didn't have to look at Wesley to see the frustration on his face. "Angel," Wesley said slowly, in the most patient voice he could muster. "The fact of the matter is we managed for quite a while without you. We can manage without you now."

"Oh, great, so now I'm emotionally detached _and _expendable." Angel pressed down hard with his pencil and snapped the lead again. "_Damn _it."

"Who said you were- here." Wesley produced a pencil from the inside of his jacket and held it out to Angel. Angel stared at him for a moment and then took it.

"Thanks," he muttered, and looked back down at his paper.

"What are you drawing?" Wesley asked curiously, glancing at the sketchbook. Angel hastily tried to close it, but Wesley wedged his fingers in between the pages.

"I'm your boss," he said firmly, and Angel sighed and shoved it at him. Wesley flipped to the back.

"These are lovely," he commented, and Angel looked at him in surprise. "What, do you want me to lecture you?"

Angel leaned over to look at his own unfinished drawing of Buffy. "Not really. Was just expecting you to."

"Any particular reason you're drawing her?" Wesley turned the page to study another drawing. "You're not having strange sensual dreams about her, are you? Because if you are, history shows that she's probably being used in a nefarious plot to bring you down."

"Nah." Angel laughed wearily. "Just thinkin' about her."

At that moment, the door swung open. Wesley and Angel glanced up to see Gunn standing in the doorway, brushing himself off.

"Okay, don't take this the wrong way, 'cause I'm not saying that I can't handle myself, but damn, maybe we shoulda done tag team tonight," Gunn said loudly, hanging his coat up on the hook by the door. "South end was _covered _with vamps tonight. Covered! Well, now it's covered in dust, because I gave them the _bam _and the _whoosh." _Gunn twirled a stake in his hand and then kicked his shoes off. "So, what's going on in HQ tonight?"

"Not much," Wesley answered, at the same time that Angel said, "Something's up with Wolfram and Hart."

Wesley and Gunn both stared at him. "What makes you think that?" Wesley asked. "They've been-"

"Really quiet lately, I know," Angel said dismissively. "But, uh, don't you think that's a prime indicator for something fishy going on?" Wesley and Gunn glanced at each other and both shrugged. "Oh, come on, guys. Since when has a lack of evil activity ever been anything but _evil?"_

"Have they been messin' with you again?" Gunn asked, leaning against a column. "Like sending you dreams of some long-dead blonde chick?"

"Well- no," Angel admitted. "But don't you think it's really-" He sighed. "Cordy had a hunch."

"Ah." Wesley nodded in understanding.

"Hey, since when are the lady's views not valid?" Gunn spoke up defensively.

"No-one said that," Wesley said firmly, sitting up straighter. "By all means, if she thinks that something's suspicious, we ought to be-"

The phone let out a shrill _bring _at that moment, and Cordelia came rushing in from the hallway. "I got it, I got it," she shouted, and snatched the phone up with vigor. "Angel Investigations, we help the-" she stopped, taken aback. "Oh, my god. Xander? What- what do you want?" Angel heard the edge in her voice and remembered how Cordelia and Xander's high school romance had ended. "What? Yeah, he's right here." She glanced over at Angel. "What-" She froze and Angel watched her eyes widen in shock.

"Cordelia, what?" he hissed, and she blinked, apparently trying to snap herself out of it.

"Oh my god," she murmured into the handset. "Does- does Buffy need him?" Wesley looked at Angel quickly and Angel stood up, his head reeling with all the possibilities of what could've happened for Buffy to need him. Maybe she'd been hurt really bad by a vamp, or she'd been infected by a demon again, or some great evil was hunting her. Or Dawn. God, what if-

Cordelia nodded. "Okay. I'll tell him. Thanks, Xander. Take care. I'm _so _sorry. For all of you." She set the phone down, staring at the floor.

Angel leapt on her. "What was that about?"

"It-" Cordelia trailed off, and then blinked again. "Sorry, Angel. It's just-" She bit her lip, and the look of equal parts shock and sorrow on her face made his stomach twist unpleasantly. "Angel, you might wanna sit down."

"How much farther?" Angel demanded, staring out the window. Watching the yellow lines of the road get bigger as they came close and then stretch out thin, and then disappear behind them.

"About seven miles, give or take," Wesley answered tiredly, turning the steering wheel with one hand. "The same as the last time you asked."

"You should've just let me drive," Angel muttered.

"Like hell I should've," Wesley retorted. "You would've killed us both."

"Well, drive faster," Angel snapped, and leaned against the window.

Wesley didn't answer, just stared at the headlights of the car in front of them.

"Thanks for driving," Angel said gruffly a few moments later.

"Anytime," Wesley answered quietly. "I understand the feeling of urgency. You just want to be with her, don't you?"

Angel was silent for a moment. "Yeah," he admitted. "I just- I think about how Buffy must be feeling right now, how broken she must be, and it makes me so damn frustrated that I've known for hours and I'm _still _not with her."

"I don't blame you," Wesley murmured. "She's suffered a lot already. The burden of being the Slayer sees to that."

"And now her mom is dead," Angel said bleakly, staring out the window. "And, and it wasn't even a vampire or a demon. It was a brain aneurysm. Something we can't kill."

They were silent for a moment, and then it hit him. "Oh, god. Dawn. She's probably-" His head started reeling, just thinking of the pain the young girl must be in. "Wesley, her world already fell apart three months ago. It can't fall apart _again. _That- that doesn't even make physical sense. God, she must be a wreck. Damn it!" He slammed his fist into the dashboard and put a crack in the plastic.

"If you break something, you're paying," Wesley said in a voice that was level and reassuring despite the nature of his words. "We're almost there."

"But what good will that do?" Angel asked weakly. "Joyce is gone. I can't fix that. No-one can."

"That's true," Wesley agreed.

Angel heaved a sigh of exasperation. "That's just so damn pointless." He clenched his fists. "The point is, I don't see the sense in a world where women like Joyce die at 46 and men like Linwood Murrow live long lives. I don't know why Lilah never has to see a bad day, and now Buffy and Dawn's lives just crashed down on them."

There was another long, thoughtful pause. "I suppose that's why there's us," Wesley said gently. "Not just us, but people. The rest of the world. We're there when tragedy strikes. We can't fix it, but we can take away the sting a little. We can keep working on the side of good to keep balance in the world."

Angel didn't say anything for a long while. The car whizzed along the road, thump _thump _thump, thump thump. Both men stared out through the windshield into the darkness.

"I guess you're right," Angel answered finally. "The world _is _unfair. The world is- the world is wrong. And so that's why we matter even more, right?" He leaned back, remembering. "If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do."

Wesley glanced at him in surprise. "That was beautiful." Half a beat, and then, "You've been rehearsing that, haven't you?"

Angel shrugged. "I was, uh, quotin' myself."

"Oh, here we are." The car slowed and there was a quiet screech as Wesley put down the brake. "You'll be alright?"

"Geez, Wes." Angel opened the door and jumped out. "I'm not 12."

"I'll be in the area," Wesley said, ignoring him.

Angel slammed the door shut behind him. Wesley gazed after him silently.

* * *

"_What?" _Lindsey gaped at the screen, not believing his eyes. "Is this-" He glanced at Lilah suspiciously. "Is this a trick?" He crossed his arms defensively. "Are you hazing me?"

"Oh, get over yourself." Lilah rolled her eyes. "We got visual of him from eight different angles. Hey, kid," she snapped, addressing the pimply techie. "Show him all the angles."

The techie jumped and then pressed a button on the computer, switching from camera to camera. Lindsey narrowed his eyes, trying to find a discrepancy.

"Our favorite vamp detective," Lilah announced grimly. "From eight different angles. _Tell _me I'm hazing you."

"He's really here." It wasn't a question, but a statement.

"He's really here," Lilah echoed, and the two of them stared at the screen for a moment, as if entranced. "I mean, his reasons for being here could be entirely innocent." They watched as Angel leaned forward and placed his lips on Buffy's, his hand climbing up her leg. "Okay, probably not. And since when do we give our sworn enemies the benefit of the doubt?"

"Well, they've been at a funeral all day," Lindsey pointed out.

"Right, and the sky is blue." Lilah shot him a derisive look. "What's your point, cowboy?"

"Someone died," Lindsey said simply. "Presumably the mother, seeing as she's not here. Did we see what happened?"

"Uh, no. By all accounts it happened at home, and the Summers home is the one Slayer-hangout where we don't have surveillance."

"What?" Lindsey gaped at her. "Three months and you couldn't stick a camera in their home?"

"Hey, _you _try sneaking into someone's house to plant bugs when there's a bunch of little wannabe demon fighters all over the place." She brushed her hair out of her face. "I mean, we have exterior shots. Lots of them. One in the doorknob, the birdhouse, the garden gnome-"

"That's not good enough!" Lindsey slammed his foot on the ground and sent a quake through the room.

Lilah punched him. "Hey, moron! Don't do that! You're going to draw attention to us."

"Who's a moron?" Lindsey growled in frustration. "We've been in this stupid little hole in the ground for _three months. _I've been trusting you to handle this operation. And then we don't even have surveillance in our target's house? What the hell, Lilah?"

Lilah's eyes blazed. "Well, maybe if you had bothered to drag your butt out of the hotel before now, we could've found a solution," she snapped. "Trusting me to run the operation, my ass! You were just too damn lazy to do a thing." She stopped, fuming. "'Trusting me to run the operation'? Like you're in charge. Who died and made you king?"

"You did," Lindsey said quietly. Lilah was so angry that she missed that and went on raving.

"I mean, here I've been working my _ass _off for three months. _I've _been doing all the dirty work, while you just sit around on your godly butt and-" She stopped, hearing what he'd just said. "What?"

"I said _you did!" _He picked up a chair and threw it across the room. It smashed into the wall, sending bits of plaster fluttering to the ground like confetti. "You think I _wanted _this?"

"What, to be a god?" Lilah tilted her head. "Based on your ego and the fact that you ignored our carefully laid-out plan to steal the god's powers yourself, _yeah, _I do."

"I didn't want them forever!" Lindsey yelled, rounding on her. "Do you have any idea what it feels like to stick your fingers into some- into a _human being's _head, and suck their wits out of them?"

Lilah shook her head in exasperation and disbelief. "Oh my god, is that what this is about? Did too-wimpy-to-handle-evil Lindsey go and have another moral awakening?"

"It's different." He stopped, cooling down a little. "Lilah, signing papers and sending out flunkies to do stuff is one thing. Actually sticking my own hands into someone's mind and _robbing _them-"

"Get a grip." Lilah slapped him. "This isn't therapy, it's an undercover operation."

"_You _did this to me." His voice was brittle and angry. "This is all _your _fault, Lilah. You forced me to do this."

"You had it coming!" she shouted, angry again.

"That only works in six-year-old court, Lilah!" He took another step forward, cornering her. "God, you call yourself a lawyer?"

"Mcdonald, this crap had better stop _right _now," she said in a low voice, glancing around anxiously.

"But it _doesn't!" _He shoved her backwards against the wall. She gasped in pain and staggered to her feet as he came closer. "It _never _stops. I thought I had seen bad. I thought I had seen wrong. I thought I knew what crazy was. But now I can hear it. I can _feel _it." He closed his eyes, and then opened them abruptly. "I can feel the insanity of this world." He grabbed her by the shoulders.

"You'd better get your damn hands off of me!" she shouted, actually starting to get genuinely worried about this situation. Not afraid, because she knew Lindsey would never kill her. But worried, because she didn't know if he would hurt her or not.

"Shh." He reached out to her, as if in a trance. She stood flat against the wall, stiff and uncomfortable, as he reached out and ran his fingers through her hair. She stared back at him in disgust and anger.

"You're crazy," she spat, her voice deadly.

Lindsey blinked, as if she'd snapped him out of his trance. "No, see, that's the thing. It's not just me. We all are." He took a step back, leaving her enough room to reach for her gun. She whipped it up into his face and he rolled his eyes. "What do you think that's gonna do?"

"It's a dart gun," she snapped, flinching when she heard the involuntary tremor in her voice. "Elephant tranqs." She scrambled out of the corner and he slowly turned around.

He laughed. "That's exactly what I mean, Lilah. You're crazy for thinkin' you can take me. _Linwood's _crazy for sending an employee who had god powers forced on him on an undercover mission with the woman who did it to him." Lilah narrowed her eyes. "Angel's crazy for being here. The Slayer's crazy for kissing a vampire. He's crazy for being in this room." Lindsey gestured to the young techie, who was white with terror. "The list goes on and on and _on. _We're _all _insane, Lilah."

"Uh, is he okay?" the pimply kid spoke up with a tremoring voice.

"What do you think?" Lilah snarled, but not taking her eyes off of Lindsey.

The kid jumped. "I think- I think I'm going to get you a cappuccino." He ran to the door and slammed it behind him.

"See?" Lindsey said softly. "He knows he shouldn't be here, locked in the security room of a gas station with an insane god and a soulless female lawyer. But he stays anyway. Lilah, when I look around at this world, do you know what I see?"

Lilah stared back at him, frozen.

"I see six billion lunatics, all looking for the fastest ride out." His blue eyes had a faraway expression, as though he weren't really there. "Look around. Who's not crazy?"

"You're out of your mind." She slipped her finger onto the trigger of the gun.

"You're not wrong." He walked towards her, backing her up into the door. "In fact, I think it's feeding time again."

"Get yourself together." She backed up slowly. "You know what they'd do to you if you ate your co-vice president, yeah?"

Lindsey cocked his head, considering. "They'd send a ragtag band of flunkies with guns after me, and I'd snap their necks."

"Oh, get over yourself!" Lilah squeezed the trigger down and a dart shot out of the gun and into Lindsey's leg. He winced and slumped slightly, grabbing his leg. Then he whipped back up and began to limp toward her.

"I know you think you're this all powerful, godly being now," she snapped, "but the fact of the matter is, the senior partners were much more powerful than that hell-chick that we killed."

"That _you _killed!" Lindsey growled.

Lilah waved a hand. "Whatever. Point is, they were more powerful than her, and they have even more control over you. Puppets, remember?"

"And this puppet happens to have the ability to suck your wits out."

She shook her head in disbelief. "I don't get you, Mcdonald. One second you're whining about how you hate what I did to you and moral ambiguity and wah wah wah, and now you're threatening to eat my brains. Mood swings much?"

"That's cause I'm insane." He threw out his hands and grinned, a twisted, crooked grin that had as much glee as malice in it. The sight simultaneously irked and unnerved her. "It's what you did to me. I'm not just off my rocker, I don't _have_ a rocker. Remember the evil hand, Lilah?" He held up his right hand. "Not just an evil hand anymore, it's evil me. One second I know right from wrong, the next I don't. Cause I'm a god, remember? Too big and glorious for this planet to hold. I can't stand on this pathetic earth. It's makin' me lose it."

"You're an idiot." She backed away from him cautiously, towards the computer desk.

He held out his hand in front of him. "Talk to the evil hand." She gave him a death glare.

"I need a cappuccino," she muttered, sitting down in the chair again, but not taking her eyes off of Lindsey.

"And I need a lot more than that," Lindsey commented.

Lilah rolled her eyes. "Go find some unsuspecting hobo's brains to suck."

The door swung open, and the young tech kid came in holding two coffees. Lindsey's eyes brightened. The kid blanched with fear.

Wesley was so tired that he didn't see the young man standing right in front of him and crashed into him, sending his coffee cup flying to the floor.

"Sorry," he muttered, bending down to pick it up. He barely noticed as the pimply twenty-something scurried off, two coffees in hand, not saying a word.

Wesley stood up with the empty cup in hand and dropped it in the nearby trashcan, as the young woman who had been behind the counter came up and bent down with a rag in hand. Wesley stood there for a moment, blinking in fatigue, and then his brain began to process the very small details of what he had just seen.

"What's in the back room?" he asked suddenly.

The girl glanced at him as she rose to her feet. "Come again?" she asked, sounding just as tired as Wesley felt.

"The back room." Wesley gestured in the direction that the young man had disappeared in. "The one he went to."

"Er- the security room." The girl stared at him blankly.

"You have more than one person in the security room?" He stood up taller as his thoughts came together.

"What are you talking about?" the girl backed away from him warily.

"That young man was carrying two cups. You have two people watching security?"

"I-" the girl crossed her arms defensively. "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Wesley held up his hands and flashed a benign smile. "Not a problem at all. Although, I'm a bit lost. I don't suppose you have a map somewhere?"

"Yeah, there's one on the wall in the back." The girl waved in the direction that the young man had vanished, and sat back down behind the counter. Wesley gave her another placating smile and then walked quickly to the back before she could change her mind.

Once in the dark hallway, he looked around and saw the door marked "security". He stepped up quietly to the door and listened. He heard muffled voices shouting, but he couldn't make them out. Uninterested, Wesley made his way back toward the front of the store.

"Did you figure out where you need to go?" the girl behind the counter asked, giving him a probing look.

"What?" Wesley asked, tiredly, and then, "oh, yes, thank you very much."

The girl opened her mouth, as if she were about to respond, when there was a beeping noise from where she sat at the counter. She picked up a small object, presumably a pager, and gave Wesley what was probably supposed to be a friendly smile but came off as more of a terrified grimace and scurried off to the back room.

Curious, Wesley paused with one foot out the door and his fingers clasping the handle. He heard a door open and the girl's terrified voice.

"The store is empty. What do you need?"

"I need a new techie." The second voice was stone cold and made Wesley whip his head up in shock. "Lindsey sucked his brains. Also, a new set of elephant tranqs would be nice."

That was enough to make Wesley run like hell. He dashed out the door and slammed his car door. He shoved the key in the ignition and opened his cellphone. He dialed a number and sped out of the parking lot.

"Cordelia?" he asked urgently as soon as it finished dialing.

"Wesley?" Cordelia's bleary voice came on the other end of the line. "What do you want? It's late."

"I know." He glanced over his shoulder, paranoid. "Pack your bags. Gunn too."

"What?" Cordelia sounded more awake now. "I don't even know where Gunn is. What happened?"

"I don't really know. Find Gunn, and I want both of you in Sunnydale as soon as possible."

"Why?" Cordelia persisted. "For how long?"

"I don't know. A while." Wesley glanced at the road. "Wolfram and Hart set up shop, so I guess we'll have to as well."


End file.
